Anything For a Friend
by LoreliMae
Summary: Before Lucy and her Father ever really fixed their relationship, her father had promised her to a man known as Toku Hitsune.. Without telling her. And another thing that was never shared, is the fact that he is the Master of the Dark Guild Sweet Venom. Toku visits Lucy on her way back from a job, demanding for her hand in marriage.. (Rest of summary on Chap. 1)
1. Summary

Summary:

Before Lucy and her Father ever really fixed their relationship, her father had promised her to a man known as Toku Hitsune.. Without telling her. And another thing that was never shared, is the fact that he is the Master of the Dark Guild Sweet Venom. Toku visits Lucy on her way back from a job, demanding for her hand in marriage. Lucy of course declines, so Toku puts a curse on the members of Fairy Tail, saying if she doesn't give him magic power daily, he would activate the curse and kill them all. Lucy has no choice but to accept. So, she endures the pain of slowly losing her magic power. But little does Lucy know that if you lose all your power, you also lose your life. Will the others be able to figure out her problem before she dies?


	2. Chapter One: A Promise She Didn't Make

**Hey guys! Finally got some chapters done, so now I can post. I'll be putting up one chapter every Friday. This story, if I planned it right, will only be about 20 or so chapters. Not that long, sorry :( I was trying to do a long story, kind of like Dragon's Plight by hallyu1. But alas, I was unable to do so no matter how much fluff I added in here. Main pairings will include: NaLu, (Obviously) Gruvia, Gevy, and Jerza. Rated K+ for guild language, and there will be ****NO**** lemon. Sorry for you lemon lovers! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**- Chapter One -**

**A Promise She Didn't Make**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Natsu waited patiently on the fluffy, blue couch as Lucy flirted with the elderly man.

Now, don't get the wrong idea, here. Sure, Lucy was flirting with him, but only because Natsu himself had asked her to. Wait; that didn't sound right either. What had happened was while out on their latest job, Natsu 'accidentally' caused some severe damage to the nearby house. And the guy who hired them was seriously reconsidering giving the two their hard earned money! So, he sent Lucy out onto to the playing field to use her practiced sex appeal to maybe win him back to their side. And so far, Natsu thought it was working. He watched as Lucy twirled her hair with her pointer finger playfully, and talked to the man in a childish voice. It really was quite interesting to see this side of her. I didn't come out as often as it used to, and it was pretty amusing to see her put herself on such a low level. And Natsu enjoyed _every _second of it. Happy? He was having just as much fun. Stuffing his head into a pillow so as to not let everyone know of his continuous laughter. The man finally gave up, sighing and handing Lucy the small pouch of Jewels. She bowed to him, thanking the elderly man for his business and kind change of heart. Natsu scoffed. Kind change of heart.. More like kind change of vision!

"Let's go, Natsu!" Lucy said, grabbing the pink-haired fire mage by the arm. He stumbled after her, Happy not too far behind. She never ceased to amaze him.

* * *

What HAD Natsu been thinking when he asked her to use her sex appeal on that old, disgusting pervert of a man? When you first meet Natsu, he didn't really appear as the sly, cunning person he could be. So it surprised her when he actually brought up the idea. But, it hadn't been the first time. She thought back to Edolas where he had asked her to try it on their enemy, but she failed miserably. And then again when they were trying to sneak into the Everlue mansion, and once again, failed miserably. She sighed and shook her head. Look at him now. Sick as a dog on this train in the seat across from her! That man could go from stupid, to sly, to sick in a matter of minutes. But Lucy couldn't help but feel bad for the poor Dragon Slayer. He had to endure two hours of this grueling pain. And she knew he hated it with a burning passion. That's what Lucy had in mind when she made her way to the seat next to him, pulling him close to her. He let out a slight moan when she began to rub his back comfortingly. The poor guy did so much for her and the others, he didn't deserve to go through this pain even though he could be a pain himself.

Eventually Natsu slowly drifted off into a fitful sleep, but that was better than staying awake and dealing with the pain. She slowly edged off the rubbing since he was no longer conscious. Lucy herself was losing to sleep, but was rudely awakened by the heavy weight on her lap which she could only identify as the body of Natsu. Followed by a blue cat who joined the two on Lucy's head. Thanks to them, she wouldn't be sleeping. Lucy contemplated pushing Natsu off, but she just didn't have the heart to wake him. This was his only refuge; she couldn't take that away from him, no matter how uncomfortable it seemed to her. And Happy, well, he could live with sleeping on the other half of the seat. She slowly snuck her arms up under the cat, gingerly setting him down on the empty part of the seat next to her. That definitely lightened the weight on her. So much, that she too was finally able to catch some shut eye.

* * *

Lucy could feel Natsu's eyes on her as she walked on the edge of the water. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Lucy knew he was worried. And he had reason; those two men on the boat were always warning her about falling. And one day, she probably would. But not today. Happy was floating beside her, desperately wanting to join in. But Lucy wouldn't let him because she feared he would end up knocking her into the water over some fish. So, that was how things went on her escort back home after the job. The sun was setting in the clouds, the birds were chirping, and her backpack was heavy with her share of the award, all thanks to her sex appeal. Natsu was unusually quite though, considering how much money they had just gotten from that one job. Who would've figured they'd get 150,000 Jewel for just freeing the town of some wimpy monster? Her share was equal to a whole month of rent! And Natsu, well.. They both knew he'd just spend it all on food.

"We're here." Natsu said.

Speak of the devil!

Lucy snapped her head up from her deep thoughts, and turned to see her house just begging her to come in. After all, the sun had finally finished its trek across the sky and the moon took over into full night. It was time for some well-deserved rest. Lucy nodded her head, waving a quick goodbye to Natsu and Happy after thanking them for walking her home. Natsu returned her goodbye with his signature smile, but for some off reason, his smile turned into a frown. Lucy looked at him questioningly.

"Who's the guy?" Natsu asked bluntly. Lucy turned around, wondering what he meant. Then, her eyes fell on something completely unexpected.

A man.

In a suit.

At her house.

Lucy gulped, not really sure what would come out of this event. Why was there a strange fancy-looking man in a suit waiting for her at her door? She'd never even seen him before in her life. It made her nervous to just look at him. Lucy was about to ask the man what exactly he was doing stalking her home, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and met the black eyes of her partner.

"W-what?" Lucy asked, slightly blushing.

"You gonna be ok with that man?" He asked dead serious. Happy flew up behind him, looking at the weird man with a hint of fear in his big eyes. Lucy wondered. Would she be ok? I mean, it was just a man.. He didn't seem like he could do much harm. To be honest, the only reason he made her uneasy was because he was waiting outside her house. Otherwise the man was quite handsome.

"I think I can handle myself." Lucy answered, smiling. She gently took Natsu's hand off her shoulder. He nodded. Natsu and Happy began to walk off in the other direction, giving back a slight look of question to the strange man. Lucy just waved them off. Gathering her courage, she adjusted her backpack and headed towards the man. She didn't really have a reason to worry; he might not even be waiting for her. He could be at the wrong house, or maybe even just got lost and needed some directions.

"Lucy Heartfilia?"

Lucy's cool demeanor shattered. He knew her. He wasn't lost, not at the wrong house.. He wanted _her._ But why?

"Can I help you?" She asked, approaching the man cautiously. Lucy slowly reached her hand down to her side in case of the need to call upon her spirits. The man smiled and took her hand in his. She hesitated for a moment, but allowed it. Then, he did something Lucy never would have guessed a stranger you had met just five seconds ago would do.

"My name is Toku Hitsune. I have come to make you my wife." The man pulled out a ring, and presented it to her. Lucy's face hadn't been this red since when she thought Natsu liked her! I mean, what kind of man who you had never seen before in your life would just come out and tell you they were going to marry you? Not many. But apparently this man thought it was common etiquette! And besides, how was she even supposed to answer this? He wasn't really asking a question, more like demanding and claiming. So, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Uh.. No thank-you?" Lucy sputtered, drawing her hand back as if he had just poisoned it. The man, who had before a sly smile on his face, now presented Lucy with a terrible frown. And she gave him back one just as ugly. "I'm sorry, but I've never met you before. Call me crazy, but I'd prefer not to marry a stranger." She finished.

Toku sighed. And before Lucy could protest, he grabbed her hand once again. This time, with a bit more force. What was this man's problem? "I don't think you understand, Miss Heartfilia. You don't have a choice."

Lucy pulled her arm away for the second time that day. Didn't have a choice? What did he mean by that? Was he going to hurt her? "What do you mean?" She asked, reaching for her keys. She wouldn't go down without a fight. Toku shook his head and let out a slight chuckle.

"You really don't get it, do you?" He asked sounding a bit surprised. Lucy frowned at him.

"No, I _don't._"

"Lucy, your father promised you to me."

For some reason, this news didn't come as much of a surprise to Lucy. She always knew her father was trying to marry her off to get money. But why was Toku coming after her now? She had thought all this 'Heartfilia' stuff had blown over. That now, she was just Lucy from Fairy Tail. Not Lucy, heir to the Heartfilia Konzern. You know, she really missed her dad, but it was times like this that she really was ticked off at him. Here he was no longer alive, yet he was still causing her problems. That man just didn't know when to quit!

"Maybe my father promised me to you, but I have made no such promises." Lucy answered. "I will not be marrying you, nor any other suitor my father proposed me to as a child. Now, please leave my house." She demanded. Lucy'd had enough of this stuff, and it had only been going on for about less than a minute!

"I see. I figured that would be your answer, so that is why I came prepared." Toku snarled. Lucy grabbed her keys. She braced herself for whatever he would attack with. But, it never came. Instead of some knife, Toku's hands began to glow a dark green. There was something wrong with it; the magic made her feel.. sick. Like it was poisoning her. But it hadn't even come in contact with her! How strong was that magic?

"What is that?" Lucy asked. Toku laughed.

"In the case that you declined my marriage offer, I came with a back-up plan. You see, I was told by your father that you had considerable magic power as well as money. But when you were a child, you didn't practice the arts of magic. So I decided to wait until you reached the peak of your power." Toku explained, nodding to his hands. "That's what I've wanted. You power! And as soon as you married me, I would've made sure I got my hands on it. Then, you would experience an accident. Never to be heard from again. But, I figured you would decline. So that's why I put a curse on you dear friends, the members of Fairy Tail." His hands glowed brighter with each word, the power and venom overwhelming her. Lucy took a step back and shielded her face with her hands. "If you do not give me a part of your magic power daily, I will activate this curse and kill all the members of Fairy Tail at once. If you do anything at all to threaten me, attack me, or break our deal, I will activate the curse right then and there. Your choice."

Kill them.. All?

Lucy's first thought was no. She wasn't going to let this man kill her friends. There was no way she would allow it! But her following thoughts.. They weren't as positive. How would she save them? If she attacked him now, or at any time for that matter, he would just activate the curse. If she refused to give her power, he'd activate the curse. Lucy went through a list of alternative ways out of this through her head, but they all ended in him activating the curse and killing everyone in Fairy Tail.

Everyone.

That included Erza, Gray, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Elfman, Mirajane, Master, Macao, Romeo, Wakaba, Jet, Droy, Levy, Gajeel, Laxus, Gildarts, Cana, and.. Natsu. Her partner, her best friend, her savior, her pyromaniac. She couldn't let them die. She would accept his offer.. And she would make sure that she would keep Natsu and the others safe.

"I guess I don't _have _much of a choice, do I?" Lucy said through grit teeth.

"Not if you want your friends to live." Toku answered condescendingly.

"Fine, I'll accept your offer."

"Very good! But, you do realize that once I'm done with you, you'll never be able to use magic again." Toku added.

To never use magic again? Lucy thought about it. She'd never get to see her spirits again. No more missions with the Natsu and Happy. No more being able to defend herself from the common thief. No more easy money. The list could go on. But the more she thought about it, losing her magic was a small price to pay for saving the lives of all her friends. Lucy would give up anything to make sure they lived to see another day; even her own life. So, if a life without magic was what that required, that's what she'd do. But she could never tell the others. She knew what they'd do, Natsu in particular. They would want to take care of this right now, and just charge in head on. But that would only end their lives faster. This whole incident had to stay a secret under all circumstances.

"I'd do absolutely anything for my friends. Be it losing my magic, or my life." Lucy gave her final answer. Toku chuckled.

"Don't be sad, my dear." He lifted her face up with his hand. She stared back at him, her eyes full of anger. The things people would do for power nowadays were despicable. It made her sick to even look at him. Lucy pulled her chin away roughly.

"Just get on with it."

"Whatever you say, darling." Toku shrugged. He placed his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut tight, not really sure what to expect. She felt a pressure inside of her, squeezing tighter and tighter until she felt as though it would explode. But instead of doing that, it cracked. And it hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt in her entire life. Lucy shrieked, falling to her knees and clutching her side. Toku glared at her angrily, kicking her. She fell onto her back completely defenseless.

"You imbecile! You're lucky no one was outside to hear that, or else your friends would be dead right now!" Toku hissed. When the pain finally subsided, Lucy pushed herself to her feet using the wall as leverage. Her body felt.. Different. Lighter. Like a part of her was missing.. And there was a big whole that needed to be filled. It was a terrible feeling, but she knew she had to get used to it. "I'll be taking my leave. Meet me at this same spot tomorrow." With that, Toku vanished using his newly-gained magic. Lucy coughed. That was extremely painful.. And if her guess was right, it would get worse and worse every time. She nearly fell over when she bent down to pick up her bag from where she fell. Stumbling, Lucy made her way into her apartment, flopping down onto her bed. She felt so drained, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

* * *

"Oi, Luce!"

Natsu's voice broke Lucy's precious sleep like a hammer to think glass. Her eyes blinked open, falling upon the face of her pink haired partner. His face was basically right in front of hers, too close for comfort.

"Lucy!" He said again, this time poking her. She swatted his hand away moaning.

"I'm awake.." Lucy sighed, rubbing her eyes. She pushed Natsu's face away, causing him to fall on the floor. She sat up in bed looking around to try and locate her clock.

12:52.

Lucy whipped the covers off her legs and jumped out of bed, landing directly on Natsu's back. She had overslept! Lucy had to meet with Levy at 1:00 at the guild for help with her story. And that was in less than 10 minutes! She had to hurry before she missed it. Lucy ignored Natsu's moaning of pain from the floor where she'd landed on him and instead ran straight to the bathroom. She didn't even bother making her bed like she did every morning. She slammed the bathroom door behind her, nearly tripping over her carpet. She quickly fumbled with her hair brush, trying to contain the mangled mess on her head. Tying it back into two pig-tails, Lucy moved on to quickly picking out an outfit. She grabbed the first shirt she saw, a lime green tank top. Then she yanked open her draws and dug out a pair of white shorts. Throwing them on, Lucy grabbed her shoes, book, and keys running out the door of her apartment. She absolutely couldn't miss Levy! The poor girl was too sweet for that. She dashed down the street, running full speed towards the main road to the guild.

"Yo! Luce! Wait up!" Lucy heard the voice of Natsu closing in on her from behind. She rolled her eyes. What did he need? She didn't have time to talk to him!

"What?" Lucy asked, not even bothering to turn around. Natsu eventually caught up to her and began to match her pace.

"I was wondering what happened with that guy last night! And why you hadn't been at the guild this morning. Usually you're one of the first there." He answered her. Was Natsu actually concerned about her? The memories if the night before came flooding back, making her stomach churn uncomfortably.

"He was just lost. And I guess I just forgot to set my alarm." Lucy replied, brushing off the topic. She was trying to focus on getting to the guild as soon as possible. That was her main concern.. She could worry more about her problem with Toku later.

"Alright.. And why are you in such a rush?" He asked, rubbing the spot where she had landed on him during her frantic rush to get ready.

"I have to meet with Levy at 1:00, and it's already 12:56!" She shrieked back at him over her running. But she never got a reply. Instead, Lucy felt two strong arms pick her up and put her on their back. "N-natsu, what are you doing?!" She yelled. "I don't have time for this!"

"You said you're in a hurry, right?" He asked, turning his head around to give her his famous smile. He couldn't be serious.. Was he actually going to take her to the guild like this? She stared at him in awe. Usually he was too dense to do such a nice gesture like this. She had to admit though, he could run a heck lot faster than her. Even when she was on his back! Natsu truly was a surprising person. She could feel his scarf hitting her on the leg as it blew in the wind. The scarf that Igneel gave him, his father. He wore it everywhere he went, even during battles and jobs. Lucy's face darkened.

Jobs..

That's something she'd have to give up when she lost her magic. No more of running away from town guards, no more insane luggage, no more fighting bad guys, no more stripping, and no more fun. No more being sent on missions for the guild, no more standing up to protect your friends.. She would be rendered absolutely useless. All she would be able to do is work at the guild with Mira. But at least she could still stay there and hang out with everyone from time to time. At least they'd still be alive.

"We're here!" Natsu yelled over the wind. Lucy looked up from where she had been concentrating on his scarf, and saw the big welcoming doors of the guild. Her home. Lucy slid of Natsu's back and thanked him quietly for the ride.

"Something wrong, Luce?" He asked, taking a step closer. "You look weird." He stared at her intently, as if trying to read her mind or something. Lucy smiled and waved him away.

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired, is all. Don't worry!" She gave a half-hearted laugh. But Natsu still didn't look convinced.

"Whatever." He replied, opening the guild doors. She followed in his steps, scanning the room for her blue-haired friend. She spotted her in the corner of the guild reading a book next to the fireplace.

"Levy!" Lucy called, waving her arm to show the bluenette where she was. Levy waved back happily and beckoned her over to where she was sitting. Lucy pushed her way through a small crowd that had gathered around Gray and Natsu, who apparently started a fight. She joined Levy on the small bench. "So, whatchya reading?" Lucy asked, examining the book in her friend's hands. Levy marked the spot where she was and closed it so Lucy could see the title.

_ "Magical Poisons" _She read aloud. Lucy almost had a heart attack. She could feel a lump forming in her throat. Levy was sitting there learning about the very same thing that was threatening her life. And she didn't even know it.

"I-interesting." Lucy mumbled. She pulled out her books papers and laid them out on the table. "I've brought my book, just like I promised. Mind helping me with this part? I have a bit of writers block." Lucy asked. She pointed to a section of the paper that she had made a mark on. Levy picked up the paper, reading it over in her mind. Lucy occupied herself by watching the fight between Natsu and Gray. From what it looked like, Gray had said something to tick Natsu off when he walked into the guild. But what was it?

"Wow, Lu-chan, that's awesome! I think you-" Levy's sentence was interrupted when the two saw something come flying towards them. They both took a dive away from the table, Lucy grabbing her papers and Levy her book. A smash was soon followed afterwards. Lucy whirled her head around, trying to find what had nearly just taken her head off.

"Dammit Natsu, I was only kidding!" Gray said, rising from the rubble of the had-been table. He brushed off a scrape on his face, putting up his fists once again.

"I don't care! It wasn't what it looked like you underwear prince!" Natsu yelled back angrily. He too got ready for another attack, charging at the ice wizard.

"Flame brained idiot! You just can't take a joke, can you?" He yelled back before the two punched each other in the jaw. Lucy laughed. This is what she missed. The care-free fun that they all shared, even if it was a little ruff.

* * *

**Random fact: Toku's name was an accident! I'm writing another story called Aether Evanescence right now, and the main male protagonist is Toku. I guess I had him on my mind, because when I was typing this FanFiction, I accidently put Toku! I didn't notice it until I had already written most of the story, so I just decided to leave it. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading! Chapter 2 will be up next Friday. :)**


	3. Chapter Two: The Nightmares Begin

**Hey guys! Sorry the update's so late at night.. I almost forgot to add it! But then my friend reminded me, and it took a while to proof read.. Anyways xD Hope you enjoy it, sorry but this chapter doesn't have all that much action in it.. You can find THAT in chapter 3 ;) Now go read my friends! And don't forget to comment and tell me what you think/what I should work on.**

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**- Chapter 2 -**

**The Nightmares Begin**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

"So how was your first day without magic?" Toku asked, giving Lucy a sly look. She glared back at him. The two had met in the same spot as yesterday. He had come once again to collect the magic that was rightfully hers.

"Let's just get this over with." Lucy replied through gritted teeth. She knew this would hurt, so she wanted to do it as soon as possible. Also, she was now aware she had to control herself because if someone heard her scream, well.. Lucy pulled her bag out in front of her and dug through it. She brought out a thick piece of cloth, and stuffed it into her mouth to bite down on. Toku let out a light chuckle, enjoying the awkward situation he was putting her in. Lucy gave him an angry stare.

"What a sour face. Someone's a sore loser!" Toku joked, taunting her. His hand slowly moved toward her, stroking the blonde's shoulder. Lucy swatted him away. She had to keep at least some of her dignity. "Watch it, girl! You're testing your limits." Toku snapped. He kicked her in the stomach, making her fall to her knees. Just as he did so Toku place his arms on her shoulders and began to take away her power. Lucy bit down hard on the cloth, trying her best not to scream. A quiet whimper escaped from her, but that was all she would allow. Her eyes were shut tight, tears brimming on the edges. Just as she had guessed it was even more painful than the day before. Not by much, but she was sure that would change as time went by. Finally Toku released her. Lucy fell to her hands. She spit the cloth out onto the ground and coughed.

"Farewell." Toku waved to her, removing his hands from her shoulders and resting them by his side. "I'll see you tomorrow my darling." He said. Toku disappeared just as he did the night before. Lucy clutched her stomach, feeling even emptier than before. She began to think she'd never get used to this feeling. Lucy grabbed the cloth off the ground, throwing it into her small bag. She put her hand on the barrel next to her, using it to help her up. Lucy slung the bag over her shoulder and finally released the grip on her stomach once she was sure the pain was gone. She limped over to the door of her apartment, trying to stay in the shadows so no one would see her. She didn't even notice the opened window on the top floor. Lucy climbed up the steps, a much harder task than usual. She pulled out the keys from her pocket and unlocked the door, finding a familiar person sitting at her desk going through her things.

"Oh, Luce! You're home!" The pink haired pyromaniac greeted her. Lucy rolled her eyes. She didn't have the energy to kick him out right now.

"Lucy!" Came the high-pitched squeal of Happy.

"Must you always break into my house?" She sighed. Lucy closed the door gently behind her, and tossed her bag onto the floor next to her coffee table. She flopped down onto the couch, completely worn out. Happy floated over to where she sat on the couch and landed gently in her lap. His eyes studied hers with a hint of concern.

"Lucy, you look super tired!" The cat commented worriedly. Natsu turned around in the chair, sitting in it backwards. He watched her, trying to see what Happy was talking about. Lucy shrugged in return, not really satisfying their need for an answer.

"Yeah you look even worse than this morning." He agreed. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Natsu asked, genuinely concerned. Lucy smiled. They were being so nice to her. Something that didn't happen often if she might add..

"I prom-" Lucy stopped. If she knew anything about her and Natsu, it was that never under any circumstances did they lie to each other. They had one of the most trusting relationships you would ever find, and Lucy wasn't about to ruin that. "I've just had a long day. Don't worry." She stood up headed to the kitchen to try and seem a bit more convincing.

"I'm just going to make some dinner then go to sleep." Lucy said. "Don't break anything!" She heard an "Aye" from the two, and entered her small kitchen. She took out a bag of ramen in her fridge, and put it into the heat-lacrima. She set the timer for five minutes, and sat down at her kitchen table. She could already smell the delicious noodles. Lucy rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes. Maybe she could get some quick energy from a five minute nap..

_BEEP_.

How did the timer go off so fast? Lucy looked around bewildered. She must've fallen asleep as soon as she sat down. Wow, she was a lot more tired than she thought. Lucy slowly made her way to the heat-lacrima and took out the bowl of noodles. She set it down on the table, grabbing a pair of chopsticks from a drawer and then a bottle of water from her fridge. Lucy plopped back down into her chair, resting her head on her hand and using her free one to bring the ramen to her mouth. It was so warm.. It made her want to go to sleep. Lucy's eyes kept shutting slowly, and she had to forcefully keep them open. Finally, after about another grueling five minutes, Lucy finished the ramen. It was nearly a battle just to stay conscious! She put the plate in the sink deciding to do the dishes later. When she trudged into the bedroom, she was surprised to see a missing Natsu. Now that she thought about it, Lucy hadn't heard any noise from the two since she entered the kitchen. Had he gone home? But Happy was still on the couch.. Asleep, in fact. Her eyes fell on the blue cat, who was curled up on the cushion. Oh well. She could worry about it tomorrow. Lucy dragged herself to her bathroom and pulled out her pajamas. She quietly shut the door behind her. As the blonde changed, she looked over her body to see if there was any physical difference that had been a result of Toku. Her shape didn't necessarily look different, it just felt that way. Then, Lucy's eyes met her own. She had never seen something so scary.

Her eyes, were not their usual brown. They were a dark gray, and they'd lost that sparkle that boys had always commented on. Underneath them were two sets of bags. Things she never thought she would encounter at this age. Lucy brought her hand to her face, a silent tear sliding down her cheek. She couldn't help it. What was this doing to her? If she looked this bad now, then how bad would she look after she'd lost all her power..

Lucy pushed that thought to the back of her mind. That was something she didn't need to worry about right now. Now, she needed to focus on getting herself to sleep, or she'd never be able to convince everyone that she was ok! Lucy buttoned the last hole in her pajama shirt, and quietly turned the handle to her bathroom door. She peered out, making sure that Happy was still asleep. Check. Lucy looked once more around the room for Natsu, but the pink-haired mage was nowhere to be found. She cautiously stepped out and closed the door behind her. The mage climbed into bed and flicked off the lamp that was next to her. She snuggled deeper under the covers and let them embrace her. The sheets felt so soft, but.. different.. She was lying on something. Something white..

* * *

_ "Lucy, your father wishes to see you in his studies." A maid said, coming up to a young, 12-year-old Lucy in her room. _

_ "Alright. Tell him I'll be there in a moment." She answered politely. _

_ The maid shifted uncomfortably. "He sounded quite insistent, ma'am. I think it would be best if you left and joined him immediately." The maid suggested. Lucy nodded sadly. Knowing her father, this couldn't end well._

_ "Thank you." She stood up from her chair and followed the maid back to her father's office. The maid opened the door and held it for the child to walk in. It slammed behind her loudly. Her father was sitting behind his desk, concentrating on some work._

_ "You sent for me, father?" Lucy asked, making him aware of her presence. He grunted in response._

_ "I would like you to meet someone, Lucy. Please treat him with respect, he'll be your husband someday." Her father said, looking at her with an evil grin. Lucy stepped back, scared. Her father was an evil man, but this.. This was different. The room began to melt into a dark black, with her still in it. Then, something grew from the ground._

_ Toku._

_ He laughed maniacally, towering over her with a great height. As he raised his arms, more objects grew from the ground. Her friends. They all came up and surrounded her, making a giant circle. Then, something weird happened. They all went from being completely emotionless, to appearing to be in a great deal of suffering. The screams closed in on her like an army of a thousand men. Lucy stared at her friends in complete and utter horror. They looked like something was eating them from the inside out! She whirled her head around, desperate to find a way to save her friends. Lucy ran up to Levy and tried to reach out to her, but some invisible force held her back._

_ "Levy! What's wrong?!" She asked, desperately trying to help her friend. But she didn't reply. It was as if she was ignoring her. Lucy headed over to the Master, who also was in pain. She couldn't reach him either. "Master, please! Tell me what's going on!" Lucy cried. Her eyes filled with tears. She banged her fists on the wall, trying to break it down so she could help her friends. Then, she saw Natsu. He was ripping at his own body, trying to get the pain to stop. Her best friend, who was always so strong. Then, he looked at her. But.. something was wrong._

_ He was angry. _

_ She ran up to him. He had always saved her and she was about to return that favor. She was prepared to do whatever she could to save him, to save all of them. But nothing could have prepared her for what he said to her next._

_ "This is all your fault!" Natsu growled. "It's your fault we're all going to die!" His eyes bore into her with the look he gave to an enemy. That famous, burning look that would make any person curl up in a corner with fear._

_ " I hate you!" He yelled at her. Lucy's eyes widened and she fell to her knees. What had she done? Was this her fault? Had Toku decided to kill them even though she agreed to his terms?_

_ "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She cried. Lucy clutched her head shaking it wildly, trying to block out all the screaming of her friends. She couldn't take it. She'd rather take her own li-_

"Lucy!"

"Lucy!" The blonde mage woke up screaming. She stared up at the ceiling of her room, covered in sweat. Her heart was racing so fast it felt like it would beat out of her chest. Someone had been calling her name, but.. Who? She looked around frantically. Was it Toku? Had he come for her? Even worse, was her dream going to come true? Then, she remembered. Right before she had fallen asleep, Lucy had been lying on something. That something must have been Natsu's scarf, because now he was leaning over her with a weird look in his eyes. Natsu was scared.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" He asked. His eyes searched over her frantically trying to figure out what was going on.

"I-I just had a bad dream is all." She muttered. There was no way she could tell him what she'd seen. Lucy brought her hand to her head and wiped it clear of the sweat. A bad dream didn't hold a candle to what she had just experienced. That had been a terrifying experience for her, and what Natsu had said made it all the worse. It made her think.. What if, this actually happened? What if somehow, Natsu and the others found out, and Toku killed them. Would that really be how it turned out? The more she contemplated it, the more Lucy began to worry. Losing her friends was the last thing she wanted. They had been with her through thick and thin, better for worse. She couldn't just turn her back on them when a problem like this came up. She didn't want them to hate her. So that's why, she had to make sure.

"Natsu, can I ask you something?" She said, sitting up. Lucy fiddled with her hands nervously.

"I guess." He answered, still having that worried look in his eye. It was beginning to make Lucy nervous as well. Did she look as bad as she thought? She mentally shook her head. That didn't matter now.. She had to ask. Lucy blurted it out, before she lost the courage.

"Would you ever hate me?" She asked, her cheeks growing red by the second.

Natsu looked at her, slightly shocked. "Of course not."

It was the answer Lucy had been looking for. But it wasn't enough.. Natsu didn't understand the weight of the question she was asking. So this wasn't his real answer. He didn't know the background that had made it so important. She had to hear his true, honest answer, because if she was wrong, then she was suffering for nothing. "Even if it seemed as though I did something terrible?" Lucy continued.

Natsu looked her dead in the eyes, with an expression she was sure she'd never seen Natsu give. He almost looked too serious. "Lucy, I've known you long enough to figure out that you would never do something as terrible to make me hate you." He replied. A small tear formed in the corner of Lucy's eye. She turned her head so that he wouldn't see. That was his honest answer. But in reality, that answer, was a lie. Because she _had_ done something bad enough. She was risking their lives, and they didn't even know it. One wrong move on her part and they could all be gone. This was her fault, and for that, she felt guilty. Lucy would never forgive herself if she let them go.

"Thanks." She whispered half-heartedly. Lucy lied back down and rolled over so that she wasn't facing him. A silence fell over the two, and Lucy began to drift back off to sleep. But not before Natsu could say one last thing.

"Hey, Luce?" He asked. Lucy turned her head to look at him. Was he going to ask her what was wrong again? She searched her mind for a good enough reply, but the one she came up with never got its chance.

"Yeah?" She answered nervously.

"You're such a weirdo."

"Shut up.." She muttered, a tiny smile cutting off the path of a tear going down her cheek.

* * *

For the second time that day, Lucy was awoken by someone other than her brain. And this time, it wasn't her partner. It was his blue-haired animal friend.

"Luuucy!" He whined, pulling at her hair and attempting to drag her out of bed with it. "Natsu made my fish taste gross! Can you make it tastier?" Happy asked. Lucy moaned. All the girl really wanted was to just go back to sleep, to get rid of those bags under her eyes. After much pulling, the cat finally succeeded in pulling her off the bed, causing her to land on the floor with a hard thump. She rubbed her head, and pulled Happy down next to her by the tail.

"Stupid cat!" Lucy growled at him.

"But Lucy! I want you to make me fish!" Happy cried, trying to wriggle free of her grip. "Natsu overcooked it and now it's all black, see?" He held up a burned fish to her face. The poor thing was completely black, and ashes were peeling off in chunks. It was disgusting.

"KYAAA!" Lucy shrieked, throwing the cat off her and running away as far from it as possible. At least now she was fully awake! "Get that thing away from me!" Lucy screamed. Happy looked at it sadly. Before Lucy could say anything else, she began to smell the faint scent of smoke coming from her kitchen. Her eyes narrowed.

Natsu.

Getting out from behind her lamp, Lucy cautiously made her way towards her kitchen, where she found a pitiful looking Natsu on the floor desperately trying to heat up a fish without catching it on fire. There were plates and utensils everywhere. Her chairs were all knocked over, and her table had a dark spot on it that resembled a burn. He was going to pay.

"Natsu, you idiot! Just because you have fire magic doesn't mean you can use it to cook a fish!" Lucy said, stomping over to him. She grabbed the fish from his hand before he could do any more damage. Thankfully, she had taken it just in time. He hadn't been paying attention so he couldn't tell if it was done or not.

"Oh, Lucy, when did you wake up?" Natsu asked nonchalantly. Ignoring his comment, Lucy tossed the fish over to the weeping Happy, whose mood instantly brightened thanks to his new snack. He began to nibble on it contently. She sighed with relief. At least that one was taken care of. Sometimes she felt like instead of being these two's friends, she was their babysitter.

"Alright, Natsu. Let's clean up." She offered him a hand and pulled the fire mage by the arm. Standing up, he brushed off the ashes from his vest. Not that it effected the black cloth all that much. It was his scarf that he was worried about.

"I don't know why I was having so much trouble cooking that fish! I do it all the time when I go fishing with Happy." Natsu commented. He stared at the one in Happy's hands, trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

"Did you get that fish from my fridge?" Lucy asked. The pink-haired mage nodded in response.

"Then it didn't cook right because I marinated it. You're used to no sauce, idiot!" She explained. Lucy knocked him on the head, already fed up with his stupidity. And it wasn't even halfway through the day yet! But Lucy couldn't resist laughing at how dense he was. Couldn't he tell the fish was different by the way it looked and was sitting in a tub of dark liquids? No matter. He'd learn eventually.. She hoped.

"Whatever.." Natsu pouted. He folded his arms. "Let's go to the guild." He demanded. Lucy shrugged. Maybe a visit with her friends would take her mind off all the things that have been bothering her lately. Or would it make things worse..

"Alright!" She replied cheerfully. She pushed the thought of worse situations out of her mind. Lucy rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes and began to go through her morning routine. Brushing her hair and teeth, changing her clothes, and a quick bath. She decided to skip breakfast in the case that Levy wanted to eat with her there. Plus, Mira made a mean omelet. Natsu and Happy waited patiently in the living room, watching her buzz around her small apartment. She met the two at the door, and they all headed out to the guild.

* * *

"Lu-chan!"

"Natsu.."

"Oh, hello Happy."

Each member of the trio were all greeted as they entered the guild. Going their separate ways, Lucy headed over to join Levy for breakfast as she expected. Natsu joined Gray in an insult-contest, and Happy floated 'happily' over to Carla who had actually greeted _him _for once instead of the other way around.

"Good morning, Levy!" Lucy replied giving the bluenette a slight smile. She joined her at the bar, ordering her usual breakfast meal after saying good-morning to the white haired woman. Mira nodded in response and went on to make the wonderful food, ignoring the flying objects that were a result of Gray and Natsu's fight.

"Good morning to you too!" Levy replied, returning Lucy's smile. But soon, that smile turned into a concerned frown. "You look drained. Are you not getting enough sleep?" She asked worriedly. Was everyone going to ask her this? Lucy knew that eventually they'd all find out, but she wasn't about to let that happen any time soon.

"That's probably it. I do feel a bit tired." She answered. "But don't worry; I'm sure I'll be fine after I eat Mira's amazing breakfast!" Lucy giggled. Levy nodded. Mira brought over the heaping plate of food, the welcoming smell making her mouth water. But apparently that smell caught other people's attention.. Hungry people..

"Yo, Luce! Mind sharing some of that omelet?" Natsu asked, throwing his arm around her the way he did when he wanted something. Usually he just took it but today it seemed he was being a bit more civil. Lucy glared daggers at the pink haired mage. He released her from his grip, backing up a bit. Natsu put his arms up in defense.

"I'll take that as a no.." He replied, quickly turning away, and walking straight into the job board. Levy giggled.

"Natsu and you would make the cutest couple." She commented over her book. Lucy whirled her head around. Where in the world had _that _come from?

"Not you too!" She whined. Lucy remembered the last time someone had mentioned the two's relationship. And that ended with Natsu getting a slap to the face. Lucy shuddered.. She didn't want to go down that road again. But before Levy could even think to reply, something came between the two just as it had the night before. But this time, it was a bit less destructive. Lucy narrowed her eyes at the paper that was being waved in her face. She snatched it from the owner's hands roughly.

"I can't read something when it's that close!" She yelled to Natsu, who was leaning over her excitedly.

"Well then back up a bit!" He replied.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Lucy scoffed, glaring at the guy. She straightened out the paper and held it the _correct _distance away from her eyes.

_"Help wanted! Thief out to steal important guest artifact in museum. Wizard needed to stand guard overnight, possibly defeat thief. Reward is 90,000 jewel." _Lucy read loud. Natsu stood over her all the while, a bright smile on his face.

"So how 'bout it?" He asked after she finished reading. Lucy mulled it over in her mind. Should she really go on a job with her magic in this state? But then again, it would only get worse from here on out. Maybe it would be better to do as many jobs as possible while she still could. She nodded mentally. That's what she would do.

"Alright, sounds good to me." Lucy agreed. She folded the paper neatly and shoved it into her back pocket. She also needed to go on lots of jobs so she would have time to find a steady job to pay for her rent. That way, she could have money already saved. It worked out great! Well, other than having to lose her power at all.. But she knew that couldn't be avoided. Lucy felt weird being around her friends, knowing that one slip up could cause them all a painful death. It made her feel nervous, so she made a mental note to really think before she said anything. Just in case.

"YES! Happy, we're going on a job!" Natsu yelled to his blue-haired cat. Happy flew over to him from where he'd been offering Carla a fish. The two danced on the table full of joy. Lucy gave them a half-hearted smile. This would be one of the last times she'd ever get to see this kind of joy from the two again.

* * *

**So that's that. Looks like Lucy's going on a job! I wonder if she'll make it. You guys better not get used to these endings, because pretty soon, it'll be cliffy after cliffy.. MWAHAHA! And now to answer comments ^^**

* * *

**Rose Rain 7: She's not a liar if she doesn't know ;) And way to inference my friend! You just spoiled a part xD And yeah, working with Mira is probably what she'd do. **

**Natsu: "But it just wouldn't be the same without her on jobs, ya know?"**

**Me: *Pats head* "Don't you worry mister.. We'll take care of this!"**

**And sorry for the wait :( But I just started school again and I only have a few chapters pre-written so I need to make sure I have enough time to work on it. That way, I won't be posting late chapters! :D And thanks ^^**

**Kitsune-Dark-Knight****:****You're just like my friend :) She always loves the bad guy!**

**Natsu: "What do you mean threaten to kill me? Who will?! I'll beat up anyone who says they can take me down!" *Pounds chest like a boss***

** .kawaii: Thanks for that Dx I always forget to proof read my chapters before I upload them. I'm gonna start making it a habit so I don't look so.. Un-neat I guess. If that's even a word lol!**


	4. Chapter Three: The Magnolian Diamond

**Hey guys! Sorry I didnd't update last night. I was over at my friends house after a party and we were playing Little Big Planet until 3 am :3 But anyways, here's the chapter now! I hope you guys are ready for a little bit of action. This is where things start to pick up! Thanks, and don't forget to comment, follow, and favorite!**

* * *

**- Chapter 3 -**

**The Magnolian Diamond**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Lucy hated herself for doing this. The last thing she needed right now was to bargain with Toku; she wanted to take as little chances as she possibly could with the evil man. But, here she was, confronting him in the alleyway next to her house. Lucy tightened the grip on her bag that she had packed for the job, looking the man straight in the eyes with determination. He returned one just as strong, if not stronger.

"Speak, dear. I don't have much time." Toku sighed, fiddling with a golden watch on his wrist. Lucy cleared her throat trying to gather the courage to speak her mind.

"I've come to ask a favor..." She started timidly.

"Oh, _that's _a brave thing to do when your friend's lives' are on the line." Toku smirked. Lucy shuddered. Was he going to reject her before she said anything? "Go on."

She took a breath before continuing. "I'm sure you know that wizards go on jobs... And that sometimes they last more than a day. So... I-I was wondering if maybe you could..." She trailed off.

"Forget taking your power for a day?" He finished for her. Lucy nodded. She could already feel a lump in her throat forming. "No."

She knew it; Lucy knew there was a large chance he'd say no.

"However, if you give me two days worth of power when you return, I will allow you to go on the job."

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She could live with that... Sure, it might be more painful, but if this meant she could go on a job... "Thanks." Lucy replied. She switched her bag over to the other shoulder and left the alley way, heading to the train station to meet up with Natsu. She could already feel the excruciating pain from losing two days of power.

* * *

"Oi, Happy!" Natsu said, nudging his best friend. Happy fluttered his eyes open, waking up from the short nap he had taken while waiting for Lucy. He rubbed them lazily trying to look around for what Natsu had woken him up for. "Lucy's here!" He explained, pointing to the blonde head making its way through the thick crowd of people.

"Luuucy!" Happy cried, instantly wide-awake. He launched himself into the crowd, straight into her chest. Lucy stumbled backwards from the impact. For a cat, he sure could pack a head-butt. Lucy smiled and pulled him into a little hug. She carried him to the front of the crowd, joining Natsu in next to the train.

"Ready to go?" He asked, getting up and putting on his infamous smirk.

"Aye!" Happy answered for her. Lucy adjusted her bag so that it would be easier to get into the thin train doorway. The two slid in one after another, searching for a seat on the tight train. Natsu stared at an empty one in the back with worry. He hated sitting in the back; that's where the most bumps were. He tried his best to get Lucy's attention away from it. He had to come up with something! Natsu pretended to trip, 'accidentally' knocking into her. Lucy stumbled backwards for the second time in one minute, and was somehow closer to the one near the front of the train. Lucy glared at Natsu, then began to make her way over to the one in the front. Natsu followed her, smiling mischievously.

"I guess I should be asking if _you're _ready, and not me." Lucy said to Natsu who looked like he was already getting motion-sick. He shook his head.

"You sure we can't just walk?" Natsu paused for a second. "Or better yet, run?"

"The town is more than 400 miles away!" Lucy replied. She stared at him as if he was a maniac. Which he really was if you thought about it. A pyromaniac, to be exact. Natsu's face fell as he settled onto the seat across from Lucy. This was going to be a long five hours.

"The train for Joya is now leaving the station. Please fasten your seatbelts and secure all loose items." The conductor announced from the speaker-lacrima. Lucy pulled her bag onto her lap so it wouldn't fall on the ground when they took off. Natsu steadied himself and grabbed onto the pole next to his booth. Happy buckled himself into the seat like a normal person would. Except, he wasn't normal. A loud noise broke the chatter of the passengers, letting out a loud 'toot' to warn the people around that the train was leaving. The doors into the car closed shut, and you could hear the click of everyone's seatbelt. They could remove it once the train started moving steadily. A quiet whirring began in the back, slowly growing in speed and noise until they had reached full speed. Natsu looked miserable on his seat, desperately trying to clutch his stomach, cover his mouth, and hold onto the metal pole all at once. Lucy held back a giggle. It was hard not to laugh at his struggle, when for a normal person this was a walk in the park. A ride in a train if you wanted to be specific. But the more Lucy looked at the poor guy, the more she felt bad. And the more she realized that as annoying it was for him to have motion sickness, the more she would miss it when she no longer went on jobs with him. Her smile turned to a sad one; thankfully Happy had fallen asleep next to her pretty quickly, so he didn't notice her.

_'I wonder what it's like to have motion sickness...' _Lucy wondered. When she was little, her mother always used to comfort her while she was sick. She would read her stories and bring her food, and play with her when no one else wanted to get close. And during the worse times, she would rub her back to take her mind off the pain. Lucy began to wonder... If these things worked for her, would they work for Natsu? The more she began to ponder it in her mind, the more Lucy wanted to test out her theory. She had done it on their last job, and it seemed to work. However it was the least she could do for her friend who had saved her countless times. And, she wanted one of their last rides together to be as enjoyable for him as possible. Lucy quietly unbuckled herself, careful not to wake up Happy. She slid her bag in her place and slowly sat down on the seat with Natsu. Taking his head, she realized that the guy was still conscious. He sure was strong to be able to withstand this kind of thing. Lucy figured he was probably used to suffering by now. She rested his head on her lap, making him somewhat aware that somebody was touching him. Yet he was too weak to move his head and check who.

Lucy placed her hand on his back comfortingly. This seemed to calm him down a bit. So far, her prediction was correct. But he still seemed uneasy. Lucy rubbed tiny little circles around the center of his shoulders. And soon enough, the pink-haired idiot had passed out in her lap. Lucy nearly had a heart attack when she realized that she would be stuck in this position for the next five hours... And her bag was on the other seat! At least last time she had been able to occupy herself. Her book, diary, and other entertaining things she had brought along with her were all out of reach. Her fate was sealed; Lucy would die of boredom on this day. So she decided to try and occupy herself by looking out the window. The trees went by much too fast for her to keep count, and the scenery didn't change all that much except for the rare occasion of a body of water. But that sight would only last for about five seconds or so. Also, there was no sunset or sunrise. It was the middle of the day. Lucy sighed. Yup, this would be a _long _car ride. If only she could summon Lyra to play her a song, or Plue to keep her company! But as you guessed it, her keys were also in her backpack for safe-keeping. And on top of all that, Lucy was beginning to feel a bit of drool coming from Natsu. That was truly disgusting.

"Lu...cy..." He muttered in his sleep. She snapped back to reality, turning her attention to the pink head in her lap. Was the idiot talking in his sleep? Or was he dreaming about her? Her memories flashed back to the last time she confronted him in his sleep; it ended up with her taking a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist to the face. Taking the necessary precautions, Lucy leaned over to catch a glimpse at Natsu's face.

"Thank...you..." He muttered. So he had known it was her. She smiled softly. Lucy was glad she had been able to help her friend. After all, she had never cared about his motion sickness before. She had just left him in his own misery enjoying her book or something. This made her feel a heck lot better about herself. And, he actually thanked her! Natsu Dragneel, the most stubborn, dense, and idiotic person on this earth had _thanked _her. She must truly be amazing.

* * *

Riding on a mobile thing with motion sickness was not always the most 'fun' choice. In fact, Natsu found it on the bottom of his list of favorite things to do. He had always dreaded train, boat, and other rides whenever he went on a job. But that never stopped him. He would just go to his happy place and try to forget about anything else that was going on. But when Lucy stepped in, everything changed. Just the touch of her hand on his back made him come back to reality. It soothed him in a way that he couldn't explain; like it put him at peace or something. So he wasn't surprised when he felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. In fact, he welcomed it. It would make this train ride all the shorter.

When he woke up, his first instinct was to parade around the train because it had stopped. But then he remembered that he was still in Lucy's lap... And he hadn't been the only one to fall asleep on this ride. Slowly turning his head towards hers, he saw that her eyes were closed and her head was tilted to the side. She had fallen asleep with him in her lap! How was he supposed to get out without waking the weirdo? But, wasn't he supposed to wake her up since they'd arrived in Joya? Natsu slowly grabbed Lucy's hand and placed it on the cushion of the booth. He carefully lifted himself off her, trying his best not to move her. She could still sleep for another 10 minutes while the train did its thing. Then all the passengers were allowed to get off. He flopped down on the opposite booth, watching her as she slept. Man, he was turning into the Master! Natsu mentally slapped himself. There would be none of that while he could help it. Natsu peered over to where Happy was passed out with his seatbelt still tightly around him.

"The train for Joya will allow all passengers to leave in 6 minutes. Please gather your things and prepare to exit." The conductor called over the loudspeaker. Natsu glanced at Lucy's bag of things. What was in it? What if she had a key that he never told her about, and it could summon a giant monster! Or, better yet, a spirit that specialized in cooking! And she never shared it with him because she didn't want him to hog it... What else could be in there? He turned his head slightly so he could see what was in the top section of the bag. A dark blue book, and some papers that he guessed was her book.

Her book!

She never let him read it while he was near her, and now would be the perfect time to do so. What could it even be about? He looked at her sleeping face once more, making sure she wouldn't see him. Natsu held open the bag with one hand and used the other to slowly slide out the small pile of papers bounded in a brown notebook. Looking once more to make sure Lucy was still asleep, he yanked the book out of her bag and brought them up to his face with a devilish grin. He couldn't believe that he was actually about to read what Lucy had been working on for so long, but would show only to Levy. He opened up to where the bookmark was placed.

_"..I couldn't believe him! I mean, sure he's an idiot, but who would do something so stupid like that? I've seen Natsu destroy plenty of buildings in my time-"_

Natsu...

That was his name! Why in the world would he be in one of her stories? Natsu flipped the book over, looking for some kind of title. Nothing. He turned to the first page, which clearly stated:

_"DO NOT READ. -Lucy" _

Natsu gulped. This wasn't her book... Was it? No. Natsu finally decided, coming to a conclusion. This was her diary. Natsu had known that she wrote letters to her mom and kept them in a box on her shelf, but he didn't know she also wrote a diary. Or maybe this was her letters to her mother. Kind of like a rough draft book... But all the same, Natsu knew he shouldn't be reading what she wrote. Even if it was about him. He knew better, right? He knew not to go through a person's personal things. If someone went through his stuff he was positive he wouldn't let it slide. That person would pay! So why was it that he had already opened the book back to where he left off?

_"..But never like he demolished this town. The poor fool thought it would be easier to just go ahead and use his fire near open electricity and water! Does he not know the basic rules of physics? Water + (Electricity x Fire) = Explosion. And that's exactly what he did to our clients' house! It created this chain reaction. Apparently the surrounding houses were connected through electricity lines, and the power Natsu generated spread like a wildfire. But in the end, the gang didn't stand a chance. They were taken out just like the houses. What am I going to do with this guy? He's like a little child-nuisance! He doesn't think before he does anything, and he most certainly doesn't feel bad about it."_

Yeah he did! Natsu was seriously considering putting this book down, because Lucy was starting to aggravate him. And she wasn't even awake yet. But, he continued to read. And he was glad he did.

_"But, I guess that's just one of the things that makes him Natsu. Sure he's got lots of downsides, but Natsu's one of the bravest people I've ever met. He's loyal to the guild and his friends, and won't hesitate to lay down his own life if necessary. I like everything about him; even if he IS annoying most of the time. He'll always be the best partner in history, according to me!"_

Natsu smirked in satisfaction. He felt guilty for reading her diary, but he was glad that she thought so highly of him. He carefully stuffed the book back into her bag, just in time for the whistle to go off. Lucy bolted awake, sitting straight up.

"W-what happened?!" She snorted. Lucy looked around wide-eyed, trying to figure out if she missed anything. Natsu laughed at her.

"Lazy head! I woke up first this time!" He paraded around the booth happily as if he had just won the Grand Magic Games all by himself. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Aye!" Everyone turned their attention to the blue cat who had just awoken in the seat. He unbuckled himself, sprouted wings, and landed on Lucy's head. She glared up at him, but he only smiled back.

"Whatever... Let's just get going." She muttered. Lucy grabbed him by the scarf, dragging him out of the train.

"Don't be so grumpy, Lucy! You sound like you need a nap."

* * *

"It's about time you three got here. I was waiting for half an hour!" The client spat, folding his arms and tapping his foot. He was a short, chubby man with a small mustache. In fact, he looked a lot like Duke Everlue. Lucy gave him a slight smile, scratching her neck nervously. Natsu just folded his arms and frowned.

"Well it's not like we _have _to be here..." He snarled back at the client. Lucy grabbed his arm, giving off a dark aura. He turned around and looked at her. It was another Erza! Natsu backed off just enough to escape Lucy's rath.

"Anyways," He sighed, "I would like you two to guard the Magnolian Diamond that will be visiting my museum tomorrow. The rumor going around is that a thief will attempt to steal it tonight, and your job is to stop them." The client explained.

"Do you know what time he'll come?" Natsu asked. Both Lucy and the Client sweat dropped.

"Of course not, you idiot!" He yelled at him.

"Well I just figured since you know the night, you also knew the time!" Natsu screamed back defensively. Lucy pulled him back once again. The two mean glared at each other with a mutual anger growing between them. Happy just sat in the corner of the room playing with some fancy vase, trying to stay out of the silent fight.

"Me and my partner will get right on it." Lucy reassured the client. He folded his arms and turned away.

"You better," He muttered.

"What was that?!" Natsu exploded. But he was soon calmed by the sudden blow to his head, provided happily by Lucy. She grabbed his arm and called for Happy as they walked out.

"Aye!" Happy replied, coming back to reality from messing with the vase. The three headed out of the rich living room, two angry, and one... "Happy".

* * *

It had been about three hours now. The clock currently read 1:13 AM, and the criminal hadn't shown their face.

Lucy sighed. This was probably the most boring job she'd ever been on. She wanted her last few jobs to be fun and epic! But this was just... Blah. Sure they'd get to beat up a criminal, but that's only one guy out of one job. At least the pay was decent though. And this quiet gave her time to think about her current predicament. But right now, she was focused on trying to get into a comfortable position that would last for roughly another half hour. The two were hidden behind a plant that was in the shadow of the wall, but they still had a clear view of the diamond. Lucy was pretty sure that Natsu had fallen asleep. He was the last person you could count on when it came to stuff like this. And once Natsu's out, there was no going back. This job was practically Lucy's. But she didn't mind that all too much. This was probably her first, and last, independent job. She could prove that she wasn't too worthless! She would take out this guy in a heartbeat. Lucy busied herself by imagining her encounter with the thief. First, she'd take out-

What was that? Lucy heard a small thump on the glass roof just outside of the exhibit hall. Could it be the thief? She glanced over at Natsu. Lucy still wasn't sure if he was awake or not. And if he was, this was the longest he'd ever been quiet. She decided to chance it. Slowly making her way out from behind the plant, Lucy grabbed her keys and snuck out of the room. There, making his way down a rope that was hanging from the roof, was the thief. And he was all hers! He was coming down onto the second floor. The plan in Lucy's head formed perfectly.

"Open, gate of the horse! Sagittarius!" Lucy called. But instead of reaching for just that one key, she also pulled out another with the same hand. "Open, gate of the maiden! Virgo!" The two popped out of the spirit world simultaneously.

"Punishment?"

"Good day, moshi-moshi!"

The two greeted her. "No time for that!" She answered to both. By now, the thief had noticed Lucy and was making his way down the rope faster and faster. "Virgo, drill a hole to the bottom floor right under that guy! Sagittarius, when she's done, shoot him down so he falls in the hole!" She ordered. But not loud enough for the man to hear of her plan.

"Yes, Princess." Virgo replied. She saluted, then dug herself into the ground. No more than two seconds later had a large hole below the man appeared. He figured out what was going on and tried to swing away from the hole, but Sagittarius was too quick. He shot an arrow at the rope, causing the man to fall into the hole. A sickening thump was heard when the man's body connected with the floor. He'd be out cold for an hour at the least, Lucy concluded.

"Thanks guys!" Lucy said to her spirits.

"No problem, moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius replied. He left with a sparkling gold dust, back to the spirit world.

"Is it time for punishment, princess?" Virgo asked, bowing.

"No!" Lucy replied. Virgo bowed once more and also shimmered back to her own world. It wasn't long after that when Lucy began to feel dizzy... She shouldn't have summoned two spirits when her power was like this. Lucy desperately tried to grab onto something to steady herself, but she was so far gone, that she barely heard Natsu's voice call her name as she fell to the ground.

* * *

One of Lucy's least favorite things was waking up right smack-dab in the middle of a really good dream. Now, it wasn't good to her now that she was conscious, she was actually quite confused. But in her dream Lucy had this overwhelming feeling of safety. Natsu had been carrying her somewhere; she wasn't entirely sure where, but she couldn't move her body or speak. Her eyes were open enough just so that she could see his worried face looking back at her.

"Lucy! Lucy, what happened?" He had been yelling. He was acting as if she had gotten hurt! She wanted so badly to answer him, but she just couldn't. Why was he so upset? She had probably just fallen asleep or something. (Which technically, she had) But oddly, Lucy felt so safe in his arms. She didn't want to leave them. She just wanted to snuggle up in there and let him carry her around forever. That's the part that _really _confused Lucy when she woke up. Why had she felt that way? It was just Natsu. Sure he protected her, but she had never felt this way around him before. It was as if she... Likedhim. Like, _like liked _him. The thought made her shudder. He was her partner! Her moronic, dense, and rash pyromaniac-partner. This is what confused her. Had her brain been trying to tell her something while she was unconscious? Maybe-

Wait a second. She had been unconscious!

Lucy bolted upright in bed, whipping her head around and attempting to gather her bearings. She was in a room with wooden walls, ones that reminded her of the guild. She glanced out the window. It was night. Perfect for an escape if needed. Then, she looked down. Lucy was lying in a hospital bed. Had something happened to her before she passed out? Lucy strained her mind to remember. What was the last thing she remembered? Lucy remembered fighting. She had used two keys... Sagittarius and Gemini? No... Virgo. She was sure of it. Then, Lucy put the pieces together. She passed out from using too much power. With her new weakened state, it probably wasn't a good idea for her to use that much magic. So how did she get here? Lucy thought hard. Right before she had passed out, someone called her name. Natsu! Where was he? She looked around the room, scanning it for the bright pink of his hair.

When she finally found him, it made her smile like a little girl.

Natsu had fallen asleep sitting next to her bed. His arms were folded on the edge of the bed, his head resting on them.

_"Who's the weirdo now?"_

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Again, sorry for updating a day off. I hope you liked this chapter! I'm trying to build up the NaLu fluff as much as I can without going overboard. Now I'll answer some comments :3**

**Kitsune-Dark-Knight: That's exactly how I pictured him ._. That.. Is too awesome!**

** Sen'ninriki: That would have been smart of Lucy to do :P I think I'd act mentally retarted and pretend as though I couldn't understand what he was saying.**


	5. Chapter Four: Magic Festival?

**- Chapter Four -**

**The Fairy Tail Magic Festival?**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

"We all thought you were dead!" Levy cried, throwing herself into the blonde's arms. She stumbled backwards, surprised at the sudden attention. She had only been in the guild hall for a mere five seconds, and already things were getting out of control. But that was to be expected with a group of people like this. The few people in the room turned their attention to her entrance, happy that their friend had returned to them.

"Guess not." She laughed, returning the bluenette's hug. She too had feared something was wrong. Apparently she'd used a _bit _too much magic on that last job, and she wasn't about to do that again. That would be the last time Lucy would use two keys at once. She was just another step closer to losing all her magic.

Levy dropped her from the tight hug. "Do you know what happened? Why did you pass out? Did the thief hurt you?" Levy bombarded her. How was she supposed to answer without tipping them off that something was wrong? Lucy searched her mind frantically for an answer.

"I think I just used too many keys too fast," Lucy replied, which, technically was the truth. But Levy just didn't know how many. "and my magic power didn't have time to really recover." Levy nodded understandingly.

"Well then make sure next time you be more careful, because when Natsu carried you back here all limp, we all nearly had a heart attack!" Levy giggled.

_'Natsu carried me here?!' _Lucy nearly blurted out. Natsu had _carried _her?! _CARRIED _her?! Her dream flashed before her eyes. Had that been.. Real? If what Levy said was true, then that's what had happened. Lucy had passed out, and Natsu had carried her back to the guild all the way from Joya. 400 miles away. He must've had to have taken the train to Magnolia at least! But still. He carried her. Lucy's face spread with a warm smile. Sometimes, that pink-haired dragon really surprised her.

"So where is the guy anyway?" Lucy asked, coming back to reality. She wanted to thank the guy who'd practically saved her life for the 50 billionth time. Lucy looked around the guild, but saw no sign of his fluffy pink hair.

"He's out back with everyone else setting up for the Magic Festival." Levy answered, motioning out the back door with her thumb.

"The Magic Festival?" Lucy asked. She'd never heard of that before. Levy face-palmed.

"That's right! You and Natsu were still out on your job when it was announced!" She answered. "Here, come with me and I'll tell you about it." Levy ordered. She grabbed Lucy by the hand and dragged her to a nearby table. The two sat down across from each other as Levy began to explain about this 'Magic Festival'.

"So basically, every year in Magnolia, a guild is asked to put on a show of magic. They pick the mages with the flashiest and most beautiful magic and put them on display for the entertainment of non-magic users. They pick ten every year. It's a real honor if you're one of the ten chosen!" Levy said, motioning to the board that had a list of names on it. "Over there's where you can see who was picked this year. Everyone keeps saying that I'll obviously make it, but I'm too scared to check!" She cried, hiding her face with her hands.

Lucy smiled. "Well that's just no good! I'm sure you've made it. Come on, let's go check it out!" Lucy grabbed Levy's hand and dragged her away from the table over to the list that was hung up on the wall. Levy hid behind her, too scared to look.

_Magnolia Magic Festival List_

_1. Gray Fullbuster_

_2. Laxus Dreyar_

_3. Juvia Lockser_

_4. Natsu Dragneel_

_5. Levy McGarden_

_6. Wendy Marvell_

_7. Mirajane Strauss_

_8. Freed Justine_

_9. Reedus Jonah_

_10. Lucy Heartfilia_

Lucy's heart leapt to her throat when she read that last name. This was the last thing she needed. "Look, Lu-chan! You made it too! Now we can be in the show together!" Levy said happily, grabbing onto Lucy's arm. "Isn't that great?"

"Terribly!" Lucy replied, forcing a bright smile. _'Terribly bad..'_

* * *

Natsu was capable of doing many things. He was super-strong, had a great sense of smell, and the sharpest ears around. The guy could lift a giant robot created by a mad King from another planet. He could punch a hole in numerous walls, and throw his enemies through them just the same. But there were some things, that no matter how hard the poor guy tried, he just could not do. It was moments like these that really threw him off. I mean, he knew better than anyone that he'd never had much experience with this kind of stuff. And now, it was eating him from the inside out.

"Natsu, are you ever going to tell me what's wrong?" Happy sighed, floating up to where the dragon slayer was hanging up a banner for the show. The whole backyard of the guild was bustling with activity. From the sound of hammers, to random bursts of magic that nearly take your head off, a lot was going on for the preparation of the Magic Festival. The entire town of Magnolia was coming to their guild, and it was gonna have to look _nice. _Everyone was doing their part. If you weren't in the show and practicing your routine, then you were either baking, cleaning, building, or doing what he was doing. Which was hanging up a giant banner that fell every single time he tried to tape it up. And Happy prodding him about his melancholy attitude wasn't helping all that much. The reason behind it? He was worried. He's known Lucy for a while, and it's not exactly normal of her to just pass out for no reason. At least, not that he's seen. What if there's something seriously wrong with her? There's plenty of diseases out there that could cause similar, if not the same, things to happen to a person. He just couldn't shake off this horrible feeling of uncertainty. And was he about to tell Happy all that? Heck no. Knowing his best buddy, he'd probably just giggle and tell Lucy that he liked her. Whatever that meant. So, he decided on telling him the obvious.

"The only thing _wrong _is this sign!" Natsu growled. Which partially was true. The thing was really starting to bother him. This had been about the tenth time he had tried to tape it up onto the wooden post. And every single time, the other side would give out while he was taping the side he was on. This was a two person job, not a one person! Happy held back a laugh, and flew to the other side of the banner, holding it up so that Natsu could tape the other side. But once again, the attempt to tape failed. Not because of the lack of help, but because of the entrance of a certain blonde.

"Luce!" Natsu said, dropping his hand from the banner.

Big mistake.

Somehow, his hand had ended up getting caught in the tape. And for once, the tape was actually sticking to something, and the thing took Natsu down with it, landing right on top of the food buffet below where he had been working. A loud smash echoed throughout the wooded area, ripping through the sound of busy workers. Everyone turned their attention to the now broken table that had once been full of food, which had taken lots of time to make.

"You idiot!" Erza bellowed, stomping out from behind a pile of wood that she'd been carrying. Natsu lied in a pile of strawberry cake, the worst possible food to land in at the moment. He shrunk back from the redhead in complete and utter fear.

"Look what you've done!" She growled, raising her sword above her head. Thinking that he valued his life more than his pride, Natsu moved out of the way just in time, allowing Erza to rip through the banner and the table that Reedus painted instead of him. It wasn't long before Natsu dodged Erza's blade that he got a punch to the face from none other than Gray.

"You ruined all the food, flame brain! Now what's the town going to eat?" Gray yelled as Natsu flew into a pile of supplies. Wood, nails, and tools spewed out into the nearby tables creating a loud splintering noise. Helpers from the town screamed and ran out of the way, barely dodging the flying debris. Natsu stood up, brushing off the punch as if it had been no big deal.

"Look, I'm sor-" He tried. But he should've known that apologizing after the kind of damage he had just done would be useless with these kind of people.

"Shut up, you ignorant child!" The Master ordered, delivering another blow, this time from a giant fist, into the pink-haired mage's chest which sent him flying into the stage. The curtains tore down, tangling Natsu up inside of them. He rolled around and struggled to get out, flailing his limbs to try and find his way. Thinking of no other solution Natsu did what he did best. A wall of flames exploded from the drapes, turning them to ash. But sadly the stage behind him burst into flames as well. He turned around and stumbled backwards, looking at the horrible mess he had just made. The place was falling down around them, and in the middle of it, was Lucy! All he'd done was try to say hello to her. Man, there was just something about this girl-

"Luce! Lookout!" Natsu yelled. One of the wooden columns that was holding up a shelter for the outdoor mess hall let out a loud snap, and soon after, came crashing down, closer and closer to her. Her eyes flashed to his, a look of fear coming over them.

Lucy reached her hand out, trying to get out of the way of the columns path. "Nats-"

But it was too late. The column came down with a sickening crack. Natsu looked over at it in horror. He had just done the unthinkable. His eyes opened wide, his mouth in mid movement about to form the word 'Lucy'. But he had been too late. He hadn't been there to save her. Not that time. Maybe she was still.. Wait.. What was that standing behind it? He strained his eyes to see. It was a man. He had on a navy blue suit, with messy dark blue hair. He looked to be around his early 20's.. But that wasn't all. He had something in his arms. More like someone. It was Lucy!

Natsu's heart lurched. Good, so she wasn't hurt after all. He'd never be able to forgive himself if he had been the one to cause one of his dearest friends to be hurt, or worse.. Natsu brushed that thought off. "What do you think you're doing?!" He growled at the man. He recognized the scent that was coming from him. He was the man that had been at Lucy's house two jobs ago when he dropped her off. She said that it was no big deal, so why was she still hanging out with the guy? He stomped up to the two, determined to figure out exactly what was going on.

"I'm doing what _you _should have done. What were you thinking, letting a lady get crushed like that?" He scoffed at Natsu. What was _he _doing? This guy didn't even belong here! He looked like he was supposed to be at some fancy tea party for men discussing political matters with other official looking freaks. This only proved to make him angrier. Lucy looked between the two. There was an obvious tension in the air, and everyone that had been in the surrounding wreckage stopped running around and screaming just enough to see the drama unfold.

"I was gonna help her! You just got in the way!" Natsu retorted, giving the man an angry glare. But he knew that wasn't the truth. If this man hadn't been here, then Lucy might not be breathing still. But he wasn't about to admit that to a guy that he had just met. Especially one that he wasn't too fond of. The man was about to come back with a just as nasty response, but Lucy stopped him. It was bad enough that Natsu was getting mad, but the real problem was what if Toku decided to stop their deal. She couldn't risk that. Lucy maneuvered her way out of Toku's arms and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse my friend." She started, giving Natsu a look that said 'Watch your mouth or die'. "He just.. Overreacts a bit. Why don't I show you the way out?" Lucy rushed, gesturing off to the path that led back to the city of Magnolia. Natsu stared at the two suspiciously, unsure of what exactly was going on. The man glanced back at Natsu one last time then nodded in agreement. Lucy and Mr. Fancy-Pants began to walk off, the freak forcefully linking arms with her.

"Fine. The boy was a waste of my time anyways." He answered. Natsu didn't like the way he treated her. Lucy doesn't like being handled roughly, he knew that from experience. He started after the two, forming a plan in his mind to 'escort' the man himself out of the guild and make sure that Lucy was ok. But that under-wear Prince Gray was there grabbed him by the arms and held him back. He angrily watched the two walk off down the hill.

"What's his problem?" Natsu muttered. Something about that guy threw him off. He shrugged Gray away. There was just something.. Wrong about him. He could sense it. And the fact that he was hanging around Lucy made things even worse. But why? Why was he angry that Lucy was spending time with someone else? Was it because he'd been so eager to see her, then never got a chance to really chat? What was it about that guy that made Natsu think something bad was going to happen? He shook his head, frustrated. All that really mattered now to him was that the fancy-pants jerk was just gone. Except for the fact that he was with Lucy.

"Calm down, Natsu. You've already destroyed enough." Erza said, coming up behind the pink-haired mage and giving him a good knock on the head. But Natsu just pouted. He didn't feel like being his rambunctious self right now. His mood had instantly fouled due to many factors. He felt bad for destroying all the hard work and ruining the magic festival, but he also felt bitter and anxious about what was going on with Lucy and that guy. Did she like him or something? He hoped not because that would be one man he would never let her hang out with. He was just too dangerous-seeming for her, even if he had saved her life. Natsu would do everything in his power to keep those two apart. And he wouldn't mind fighting the guy in the process.

* * *

"You're testing your limits darling."

Lucy kept her eyes to the ground. It was still early afternoon. The sun was shining bright up high in the sky, casting a beautiful glow through the thick trees. But nothing could make this moment any better. It was pretty gloomy knowing she was with the man that was threatening to kill all of her friends. She didn't want to have to deal with this guy right now. But, in the back of her mind, she knew. Lucy knew why he was here. He was here for her power. And it wasn't going to be something that she'd enjoy. It would be far more painful than before. Right now, she needed to get as far away from the guild as possible. This time Lucy was sure that she wouldn't be able to control her screams. And she couldn't risk Natsu hearing her. Knowing him, he'd come running after her with back-up.

Lucy's arm was linked with Toku's, a decision not made by her. Apparently, Toku was not only a dark guild member, a rich snob, and a mage, but also a pervert. But that was to be expected. He was getting himself as close to her as he could. And it was quite obvious. Lucy knew that he really could do whatever he wanted with her. After all, he always had the threat of her friends' lives as an excuse. He could do something unspeakably horrible to her, and she'd have to live with it because there was nothing she could do about it. No one would know other than her and him. But for some reason, he felt it more necessary to toy with her than to torture her. Which if you think about it, could be the same thing. Just the other is a bit more drastic. Toku edged closer and closer to her each step they took. Lucy needed to end this quickly.

Breaking off from Toku's grip, she turned to face him and pointed to the clearing up ahead. She had led him far away from the guild into a clearing that was commonly used for training in the guild. On the other side was a path that went around and back to the town. "That's the exit." She said quietly.

"Don't you owe me something?" Toku replied, stopping in mid step. Lucy shivered.

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Saving me." She spat.

"You're welcome. After all, what use would your power be to me if you're dead?" He laughed arrogantly. "Now, you know what must be done. You still owe me the two nights of power." Toku said, taking a step closer to her. He rubbed his hands together anxiously. Lucy gulped, trying to keep calm.

"Yeah. I know. Let's.. Let's get this over with." She breathed. Losing twice as much power as before would be a terrible experience. But she'd do it. She'd do anything for Natsu and the guild. They've done so much for her, this was the least she could do.

Toku places his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them tightly. Lucy winced. Just the grip of his fingers even hurt. Then, she felt the terrible sensation of her body losing power. That horrible feeling, as if your two arms were being slowly ripped off. Like all of your insides were being sucked away by a giant vacuum. Her knees wobbled slightly, giving out and making her crumple to the ground. But it still wasn't over. Lucy held her tongue as good as she could, but it was no use. Her screams rang out and echoed in the forest, the sound of birds flying away joining in. It wasn't long after that, that Lucy's sight began to fade into a pool of darkness that was becoming all too familiar.

* * *

"She's still not back yet."

"Natsu, calm down! I'm sure she's fine. I'll bet she just saw some berries or something and picked them on the way back."

"But Lucy hates berries! She told me so herself!"

"It was just a suggestion!"

"I'm going to find her."

"Get back here!" Gray called to Natsu, who was now making his way into the thick forest. Something was up with Lucy. First, she meets that weird fancy guy after a job. Then she starts to look tired all the time. Then she passes out on their other job for no apparent reason, and now he's seeing this weird guy again and Lucy still hasn't returned! Something is going on that she is not telling them. And he was about to find out.

Following the scent of that perfume Lucy always wears, and the fancy-man's cologne, Natsu slowly went down the path that led back to town. But something weird came up. The path back to town went ahead, but Lucy's smell broke off to the left onto another path that was commonly used for training purposes. But no one was out training today, so why did she want to go there? Especially when she had that man with him? Things weren't adding up.

_'Such a weirdo.._' He thought to himself. Natsu followed her scent for another good 15-minutes until he began to realize that it was growing exponentially stronger. She was close. But why didn't he hear her?

Natsu ended up in a small clearing, the one where he and so many others had gone to try out new techniques on each other. Light poured in from overhead, illuminating the circular grassy area. Surrounding it were a group of trees and bushes that held back the thick forest. The smell was strong here, and he was sure this would be where he found her. His nose led him to the edge of the path that went around and back, somewhere near the bushes. He cautiously made his way over, unsure of what to expect. He pushed back the bushes carefully.

"Lucy?" He breathed.

The blonde mage was sprawled out behind the bushes out cold. He face looked pale and drained of all energy. Her chest shook heavily each time she tried to breathe in. Natsu had been right. There was definitely something wrong. Before he could even think about what he was doing, Natsu fell to his knees and held her head up to see if she was injured. She didn't have any bruises or cuts. It was more like a vampire had come and sucked the life out of her. His first thought as to what had happened to her was that man she was with. Had he done this to her? Natsu had been suspicious of him since the beginning. If he laid so much as a finger on her, he would end him without hesitation. Lucy deserved much more than to be treated like this. But what if it wasn't? What was she going through that she wasn't telling anyone about? Was she sick? He looked over her frantically, unsure of what to do. But his thoughts were interrupted.

"W-what's wrong?" Lucy's voice whispered. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing a set of two eyes that had lost the sparkle that once defined themselves. She looked up at him with a confused face. "Why am I on the ground?" She asked.

Natsu snapped back to reality. "Lucy what happened?" He asked, completely dumbfounded. He had no idea what was going on. She raised a hand to her eyes, sitting up in the grass.

"I.. I'm not sure." Lucy answered. But she did know. Could she tell Natsu the reason? Of course not. She'd have to think of something quick.. But her brain wasn't working at its best just now. Natsu noticed that she was having trouble sorting things out. He shook his head.

"You're such a weirdo."

"Natsu, what are you-"

Natsu pulled Lucy up by the hand, and carefully put her onto his back. He was so strong against his enemies, yet so gentle when it came to her. She sat on his back dazed, unsure of what had just happened.

"Just shut up. I'll take you back to the guild." He said. Lucy smiled softly. This was just like what Levy had told her.. Him carrying her back to the guild. She fought to stay awake so that she could lighten his load a little bit, but she didn't stand a chance. Sleep quickly over took her. But how could it not? It was just so soothing to know that you had someone to watch over you. The sense of safety and comfort made it hard not to relax. And so, without meaning to, Lucy fell into another deep sleep on the way back to the guild. Her head thumped softly onto his back.

"Thanks.." She managed to whisper, just before falling into the darkness once more.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I went to my formal tonight and had a LOT of fun :3 we danced the wobble and cupid/Cuban shuffle. And other stuff xD But yeah. I've got a lot of stuff to get done with review for tests. Yup. My school is like the last one to end this year. Testing is all next week :P Gotta get ready. I'm not gonna do reviews tonight because I'm SUPER tired, but I will do them tomorrow after work. Again, thanks for reading/following/favoriting! (Or however you say that lol) **


	6. Chapter Five: Preperations Again

**- Chapter Five -**

**Preparations.. Again.**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Preparing for an event that includes an entire town is incredibly stressful. You have to plan the event step by step, make food, build seating areas, print out flyers, clean the area, give instructions, learn routines, (in their case, at least.) design costumes, purchase supplies, and so much more. The list could go on for days. Many things also added to the stress factor, the main one so far being that every ounce of work everyone had put in had been completely and utterly destroyed by a single pink-haired person. And that person, was getting the worst of everyone's attitudes. Lucy watched as the mage was threatened, blamed, insulted, and occasionally punched. But he endured it and kept his pride the entire time. And that was what kept her from doing all the things the others were doing. After all, the poor man had only wanted to say hello to her. Who knew that she could cause so much trouble? And he was even putting in double the effort to help out around the guild. However, to people such as Erza and Gray, double just wasn't enough.

"Natsu, the trash goes in the trash cans, not set on fire!"

"Natsu, I thought I asked you clear out that room! It's completely full still!"

"Natsu, when are you going to help me with stacking the empty crates?"

"Natsu, how will you-"

"NATSU, NATSU, NATSU! That's all I hear around this place! Geez, don't you think I feel bad enough?" The dragon slayer finally yelled.

_'That's it.. The guy has finally cracked. It won't be long now until all this work has to be started over yet again.' _Lucy thought to herself, hearing the outburst from outside the guild. The show was tonight, and they weren't even halfway ready to host the entire town of Magnolia at their guild. The stage was still being rebuilt, and the food table was on low. She wasn't sure they'd be able to make it. But then again, this _was _Fairy Tail. If they set their minds to it, anything could be possible. Lucy had been called to the front area with the other performers to start learning their routines. She was so excited! Even though she was low on magic power, Lucy was happy that she'd be able to show the amazing power of her spirits to a crowd. They'd be able to see just how beautiful they were. Before, she had been kind of nervous when Levy told her she made it. But now, she told herself not to worry and to just enjoy these last short days with magic. She had never before realized how much she took her power for granted; even though Aquarius wasn't the nicest to her, she still always had her back. And even though Taurus was a pervert, he would do everything in his power to protect her. And that's why she loved them. All of them. And, she would miss them.

"Lucy, are you ready to learn your routine?" Vijeeter asked, dancing towards her.

She sweat-dropped. He was going to over-do things, wasn't he?

"Alrighty then, let's get started!" He sang. "I have brought with me a fake set of keys so as to portray you as best as I can. Also, I have brought one other thing." He pulled out a yellow ball of yarn, and plopped it onto his head. Two pigtails were tied out of it. Lucy nearly paled.

"Is that supposed to be my hair?!" She shrieked, looking at the horrible mass on his head that strongly resembled a pile of spaghetti. He nodded, a smile of satisfaction on his face. This was going to be a long training session.

* * *

"I can't believe he actually put on a skirt!" Lucy whined to Levy as the two were walking away from the practice.

Levy shrugged. "Maybe he was just trying to make sure your skirt wouldn't come up?" She suggested.

"It doesn't matter. He goes _way _overboard. And those dance moves he came up with were ridiculous! Thank goodness he let me decide the final ones. Otherwise, I'd look like a complete idiot!"

"Don't worry Lu-chan. I'm sure no matter what you do on that stage, everyone will still cheer."

"Thanks.." Lucy sighed, not completely convinced. The entire practice all together had been about 3 hours. Much too long for her liking to be out in that heat. At least later that night it would be a bit cooler. And she'd being wearing some different clothes. Now that she and the others had learned their parts and when they'd be coming out on stage, their entrance, etc., they all had to help out and finish the preparations for the show. They were still way behind schedule and it was already 3:00. The show started at 6:00. So everyone was doing their best and working their hardest to complete the set up and get back on track in time for the show. Lucy was assigned to baking, something that she herself wasn't too good at. But nevertheless, she'd do her best to help out where she could! Levy and she broke off, Levy heading to the library to look for books that contained speed-increasing spells, and Lucy to the kitchen where Mira would tell her the basics.

Lucy pushed open the creaky door, peering in to see if anyone was already in there. She had expected to be greeted by Mira, but she guessed not since no one was in the room. Lucy stepped in and closed the door behind her. Maybe she was just running a bit late. Then, Lucy noticed the small yellow note flapping away in the breeze on the edge of the kitchen table. Was it for her? She made her way over to the counter to find out. The small note let out a slight rip as it was removed from the table.

_ Lucy - Sorry, but I'm not going to be able to help you. Elfman got stuck with costume control, and he's about to lose his mind. Therefore I am taking his place. I have left a list of recipes and ingredients in the kitchen cabinet to the left of the door. I hope you don't have too much trouble. Sorry again!_

_ - Mirajane_

That's Mira for you. A super sweet note in curly-cue handwriting. Lucy understood. Elfman around dresses? She wasn't sure that he'd be able to make it. Lucy could manage on her own. So she wasn't the best chef out there.. She could still make a cake that was as at least edible! Nodding in satisfaction, Lucy was determined to get this job done. She grabbed the white apron off the handle next to her, and headed to the cabinet near the door tying the back of her apron as she went. It was a bit higher up than she expected. Lucy put her hand on the counter, using it as leverage to hold herself closer to the cabinet. It was so close; yet so far away! To think that she used to be tall for her age as a teen, and now, she couldn't even reach the darn cabinet door! It must have been built to Mira's height, because she was a good bit taller than Lucy. She struggled and stretched her arm out as far as she could towards the handle.

_'That's it.. Closer.. Just a bit mo-'_

"Can you not reach?"

"KYAAA!"

Lucy crashed to the floor, taking down a pile of pots that had been next to her hand with her. The noise of metal connecting with stone let out a huge crash that echoed throughout the small kitchen. Someone should know better than to sneak up on a person who is concentrating as hard as she was! But apparently that person didn't really care what she was doing, because now they were laughing at her!

"What's so funny?!" She yelled at whoever had interrupted her.

"What's _not _funny about this, you weirdo?"

Lucy knew that voice. She scrambled to her feet, turning around to meet the eyes of the person that had scared her standing behind the island. He waved at her happily.

"I'm here to help!"

"Natsu, you're the last person that should be in a kitchen." Lucy sighed.

"Not true! I've fought plenty of monsters that wouldn't even fit in here."

"That has nothing to-" Lucy stopped. There was no point. She waved it off. "What I mean is why you are in_ here_." She asked. Natsu thought for a moment as if he'd forgotten exactly how he had managed to stumble his way in here.

"Well, Happy was busy with Carla and everyone else was just being a jerk to me. So I figured I might as well come and help you." He explained.

"What makes you think I won't be a jerk to you?"

"Because.. Well.." He scratched his chin in thought. "Because you like me!" He announced, putting his hand up excitedly. Lucy's heart skipped a beat.

"I w-what?" She sputtered.

"You like me! I mean, why would you hang out with me if you didn't?" Natsu replied as if it was the most obvious thing.

Lucy had no idea what she could say back to that, other than a bunch of babbling. I mean the guy had just told her he _liked _her! How was she supposed to reply to that? She didn't even know if he knew the meaning of the word like. Wait a second..

"Do you mean.. As a friend?" Lucy asked.

"Duh. What else would I be talking about? You know Luce, you really are something." He said giving the blonde a crazy look. Lucy sighed with relief. So he hadn't been confessing his love to her or anything. But why did she feel so disappointed? Did she want him to? Lucy shook her head. That was crazy! He was just too dense to understand or comprehend even the word 'love'. There was no way he could ever care for her as more than a friend. But still.. Did she want him to?

"Luce, why is your face so red?" Natsu asked.

There he goes again! She just didn't know what to expect from this guy anymore.

"You wear too much make-up."

Lucy face-palmed. "Yes, Natsu, yes I do. Can we get to work now?" She sighed, finally giving up on him.

"Yeah! I'm all fired up!" He cheered excitedly. "What do you want me to do?" The pyromaniac looked around the room eagerly. Lucy searched her brain for the easiest, most simple task ever created in all of history for Natsu to do that NO ONE could EVER screw up. Even someone as talented and experienced as him.

"Hmm.." She thought. "I know! You can get me the supplies when I ask for them!"

"But that's not really helping."

"It is in my book. Now stand still and wait for my order!"

"Aye!" Natsu saluted. Lucy smiled at him happily, glad she found him something to do where he couldn't absolutely obliterate the kitchen. She pulled up a small stool that she hadn't noticed before and put in front of the counter where the cabinet was. She'd grab that thing this time for sure! She reached up, and sure enough, the note was sitting loosely on top of some main ingredients. She yanked it off and jumped back down from the stool. It had been a good thing she didn't wear a skirt that day, or else Natsu would just have gotten a major nosebleed. She brushed off her apron and set the note on the counter. For a note, it sure was long!

"Alright. You ready for your first job, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Aye!" He replied. It seemed like he was going to stick to that phrase for the day. Lucy shrugged. It was better than his usual!

"Let's see.." She skimmed over the paper, reading the list of needed foods. Mostly they were the desserts because that's what took the longest to make. The first was strawberry cake. Erza would have a frenzy if she saw this list.. It consisted of mainly strawberry flavored sweets because that was the top-voted flavor in Magnolia currently. "Can you grab me the box of flour from the cabinet where the note was, the bowl of strawberries in the freeze-lacrima, the eggs, and a large cup of water?" She asked. Natsu saluted to her, and began his trek around the kitchen while Lucy continued to scan over the list. There sure were a lot of things to make.. And big portion sizes as well! They were going to be in here for a while.

In the meantime, Natsu was having trouble finding some of the things Lucy had requested. He had already gotten the flour, strawberries and eggs, but the water coming out was just too cold. No matter how far he turned the little spout-thing, it just wouldn't get warmer. So he decided to do the one thing he knew best. Natsu looked over his shoulder at Lucy, who was quietly reading over the list. Now was his chance.

Natsu pulled out a giant pot from the cabinet underneath the sink and set it next to the spout. He filled it up with the freezing water until it was almost to the top. This would be plenty of water for Luce! He grabbed the pot by the handle and hung it on the rack above him. He tried to reach up to touch the pot, but he couldn't. He attempted to pull over the stool that Lucy had used, but when he moved it, the thing made too much noise and Lucy gave me a questioning look. Lucky for him she didn't actually bother to ask what he was doing. So Natsu decided to stand on the counter to try and reach it.

Climbing up, Natsu steadied himself by holding onto the locked cabinet handle. He reached towards the pot with his free hand, but he was just too far away. He looked down at where his foot was on the edge of the counter, and decided that his foot could live with being just a _bit _more off the edge. He struggled to reach his arm, but he was still too far away! How was he supposed to boil the water if he couldn't even reach it? He inched closer, more and more, until he was almost a centimeter away. But it still wasn't enough.

_'Just a little bit more.. Come on.. Almost the-'_

"GNYAAA!"

He screamed, his foot slipping off the edge of the counter. Natsu came toppling down off the counter. Lucy turned around to see what his scream was for, only to be greeted with a bucket of freezing cold water to her face.

"KYAAA!"

The bucket landing directly on her head, and Natsu followed soon after. She was completely drenched in Gray-temperature water, and a very heavy Natsu landing on her didn't help. She shoved him off her, pulling the hard bucket off her head and throwing it across the room. The pink-haired idiot lied next to her, still dizzy from his fall.

"What is wrong with you?!" Lucy screeched. "I gave you the SIMPLEST job, and you STILL find a way to screw it up! I mean, come on! How hard is it to get me hot water?!" She asked. Lucy scrambled to her feet, pointing an accusing finger at the mage.

Natsu was about to respond with 'That's exactly what I was doing, until I slipped..' but he noticed that she had been covered in the cold water. And it looked like she was shivering! The least he could do for her after ruining a simple job was to warm her up. So, he too got to his feet.

"Hold on a sec."

Natsu lit both of his hands on fire, creating a warm flame that was a bit too close for Lucy. "Now you can dry your clothes off!" He smiled.

"Natsu, don't get so close or you'll set them on fire!" Lucy warned him. But did he listen? Of course not. Lucy could feel her clothes absorb the warmth of his fire, and it was beginning to become unpleasant.

"Natsu! Listen to me, they're going to ca- NATSU!" She shrieked, beginning to see her clothes turning black. That one black spot burst into flame, consuming her entire right sleeve. She shoved Natsu away from her, knocking him into the island, where his hand made contact with the polished wood. That too immediately was consumed by the hunger of his flames. Realizing that the small fire on her arm was quickly growing, Lucy rushed to the sink and ripped the expandable spout out, spraying water all over the room. The fires caused by Natsu slowly began to shrink until they were nothing but piles of ashes. The smell of smoke filled her nostrils, and the sight of the kitchen made her sick. Natsu sat in the middle of it all, soaked in her water. The island was half burnt, all the ingredients were drenched, and most importantly, the list had been destroyed with a combination of both elements. Lucy shrank to her knees, unsure of how to deal with the terrible situation.

"One.. Job.." She muttered before putting her face in her hands. "You had ONE JOB!" Lucy yelled, snapping her head back up. "Now look at this place! Everything you touch turns into a disaster! I can't believe you! Can you not control yourself for five seconds?! You make me want to scream! You're the stupidest person I've ever met and I can't believe I actually let you stay in here when I know you ruin everything! Why can't you just be calm for once and stop being such an ignorant, dense, pyromaniac?!" Lucy shrieked. Her breath was heavy, the little speech taking its toll. All she had asked was for him to gather ingredients, and now look what happened! They had ruined the entire kitchen and now they probably weren't going to be able to finish in time for the festival. The whole thing would be ruined, and Lucy would end feeling as though it was all her fault. "You're just as evil as any bad guy, and you don't even mean to be." Lucy hissed.

Natsu stared back at her with an emotionless face. There he sat, on the floor in a puddle of water, staring back at her. That face.. It was so empty, yet it said so much.

"Sorry." He muttered.

Lucy stared back at him, horrified at what she had just done. _'Now who's the bad guy..' _She thought to herself sadly.

* * *

It had been a long walk back from the market place. Natsu knew that the entire kitchen incident had been his fault, but he still didn't get why Lucy had to be so mean about it to him. She was the last person who had actually still been okay with him after he destroyed the outside area, and now, she was mad at him too. Was she right about all those things she had said? Was he really such a bad guy? Those words.. They hurt more than any wound he had ever gotten. Lucy was his best friend. And to hear her say those things to him ate away at his heart like a million little bugs. He felt sad, angry, and confused all at once. So that's why he wanted to make it better. He wanted to show Lucy he could change so that she didn't have to mean everything that she had said to him a couple of hours ago. So he had gone to the market place, and bought a wagon-load of sweets.

That's right.

It had cost him his entire savings, but he figured since no one would have the time to make anymore, then he would just buy some and say that he and Lucy made them. That way the festival wouldn't be food-less. It was the least he could do since he did blow up most of everyone's work. Even if he didn't mean it. He had unpacked the entire wagon in the kitchen, after of course he cleaned it up. Which was not an easy job. In fact, it was less than 30 minutes before the show that he finished it all. People were already arriving at the guild which was finished just in time. Outside, the backyard was bustling with activity. Little shops were set up all around the walls of the guild, and there were tables lined in front of the new stage. The food was being brought out to the bar by platefuls, and more and more people were entering every second. Natsu filed into the crowd from exiting through the back door, and made his way backstage where Mira was waiting for him with his costume. He would go on right after Lucy, who was next. As he entered through the door, he could hear the music start for the very first performance. Cheers erupted through the crowd, praising the mage who was currently onstage. **(Hey that rhymes!)** Everyone seemed to love the magic festival, but Natsu didn't. He was put in it every year before that Fairy Tail had hosted. He hated being on stage and showing off his magic. He'd rather be fighting someone with it, but the master never allowed him and Gray to spar as part of the show. There was just no point in using your magic if you never used it for fighting, so why show it to others in a different way?

* * *

It was Lucy's turn next. She was incredibly nervous, and for many reasons. One, she was preforming in front of the entire town of Magnolia. The entire town! Two, she wasn't sure if the food situation was working out or not because she hadn't been able to check it out. Three, what if her magic gave out? Not only would that be embarrassing, but people would begin to really question what was going on. And more people would know. And finally, four, was Natsu mad at her? She had absolutely 100% regretted every single thing she had said to him after the kitchen incident. He didn't deserve anything like that. He wasn't a jerk.. He was just Natsu. And he meant well. So why did she have to blow up on him? It was all just so nerve wracking! She wanted to find him right then and tell him exactly how bad she felt so she wouldn't have this annoying weight on her shoulders any longer. But before she could do anything of the sort, Lucy heard the master announce her performance. It her turn.


	7. Chapter Six: Half

**Sorry this is so late! I had EOGs and EOC's, then more school stuff.. And now my friends staying over for a week, again I'm so super sorry! But here's the chapter and I'm going to try and start uploading on time now. Geez I feel so bad Dx Anyways, I think you guys will like this chapter. I hope it can make up for my absence! Hope you enjoy ^.^**

* * *

**- Chapter 6 -**

**Less than Half**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Lucy gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat. It was her turn! Of course now all the negative things that could possibly happen chose this moment to go through her head. What if she forgot her part? What if the backstage crew messed up and something fell on her? What if one of her spirits decided to not cooperate? What if-

"And now, our Celestial Mage, the beautiful, blonde, Lucy of Fairy Tail!"

Before Lucy could even realize what she was doing, she felt her body carry her onto the stage waving her hand to the crowd with a big sweet smile on her face. Her body was taking control and just going through the movements she had practiced. The huge crowd gazed at her in awe, taking in her dazzling knee-length brown dress. It had hints of gold and sparkled under the moon's light, making her stand out against the white backdrop. She heard the roar of onlookers, making her smile all the more as she pranced to her spot on stage. An elegant bench was positioned there, the area where her first part would start. Lucy stood next to it, head bowed. This was it. She had to do her best.

"Open, gate of the Lyre, Lyra." She summoned, gracefully putting her arm out. Lyra appeared, dressed in a white dress similar to Lucy's, sitting on the white bench. Her golden harp sat next to her, glistening with a newly polished handle. Lucy nodded to Lyra, giving her the signal to start. Lyra closed her eyes and began to strum the instrument, her beautiful, sad and slow music flowing throughout the backyard. Its echo carried on and on. Lucy began her dance, simple yet elegant, and pulled out Virgo's key. Virgo shimmered into Earthland, dressed in a white dress that was identical to Lyra's. The two began to dance together, making synchronized movements. Lucy was in her prime. She had thought that this would be horrible, but she soon began to realize that as long as this adrenaline rush kept up, she'd be able to keep her magic going for enough time. She felt the wind cool her sweaty face, and the silence of the crowd watching her with wonder. She was having fun! For one moment since she had met Toku, she was actually enjoying herself. She was the shining light for just this once, and she was happy. Even if it was her last. Nothing could ruin this moment. Nothing, except for one thing. And that one thing, was looking her straight in the eyes.

"No.." She muttered under her breath. Virgo gave her a look.

"Am I doing something wrong?" She whispered. Lucy barely shook her head in reply while the two were still dancing. She could see him. And he knew that she had. She felt her heart speed up, and she began to shake. This.. Was true terror. And soon, that terror turned into anger. Why couldn't he leave her alone?! Why couldn't he let her just have this one moment? Her last, true moment of happiness and he just ripped through it like it was nothing. As if she was nothing to him but a large mass of power. He didn't care about her, or anyone! She had known this before, but now more than ever it angered her. This man was the definition of horrible. And there was nothing she could do about it.

She caught a glimpse of his eyes, giving him an anger filled stare. His mouth curled up into an evil smile. Lucy's heart, which had been pounding so fast, stopped. He wouldn't dare. Not here, in front of all these people..

But apparently, he would. It was all happening so fast.. The feeling of her power being sucked away, thoughts rushing through her mind, wondering how he was even able to take her power from such a distance. She saw Virgo disappear in a bright shimmer, and she heard Lyra do the same behind her. Lucy's knees gave out, and she crumpled to the ground just as the harp was sharply cut off at its climax. The crowd let out a surprised gasp, wondering why the mage had just suddenly fell. They weren't sure if it was part of the act, or if she was actually harmed. Lucy struggled to keep consciousness as she saw the floor grow closer and closer. She couldn't pass out now.. Not in front of all these people! She darted her eyes towards backstage frantically, hoping no one saw her. Thankfully no one knew her act and they would be just as confused as everyone else.

Lucy lied on the ground, fighting to stay awake. She had to cover this up somehow.. She'd come too far to lose to Toku! She had to get up!

_'Get up..' _She thought to herself. _'Get.. Up!' _Over and over she told herself. She wouldn't lose her friends for something as measly as this. She would stand, even if it felt like the world was on her shoulders. She would finish this so that her friends could live another day. There was no way she would risk them finding out. So, she would make this part of her dance. Lucy moved her shaky hand to in front of her, pushing herself up to a sitting position. She swung her arm around to the absent music, and gracefully yet painfully made it to her feet. She stumbled, but caught herself by putting her foot in front. The crowd gradually grew into an applause, going with it. She could do this.. She just had to get to the other side of the stage, and she was safe. Lucy felt the pain of her power being sucked away slowly stop. She had to end this before it made her pass out! Lucy staggered to the other side of the stage clumsily, yet somewhat gracefully. Her mind was one track; getting to that other side. Then, she could just rest. And her friends would be safe. She kept her eyes trained on backstage. She couldn't see what was there because a shadow covered it. It didn't matter. Her breath was coming out in short rasps and her legs felt like they had rocks in them. Step by step she incorporated little arm movements to make it seem as though this was planned.

_'Closer.. Closer..' _She told herself. She was so close! It was almost over! Lucy could barely hear the crowd behind her, roaring with emotion of her 'touching' dance. But they had no idea.. No idea of what was actually happened. And she was doing all she could to keep it that way. And finally, after what felt like an eternity, she reached her destination. She looked behind her once, making sure that the crowd couldn't see her, and then fell. Except, she never touched the ground. Instead, she felt the feeling of someone's arms wrap around her. But it was too late to do anything about it. Lucy felt herself slowly get pulled into the darkness, hearing one last word:

"LUCY!"

* * *

**Natsu's POV**

Something was wrong.

Natsu could tell from the look she had just given Virgo. It was as if she had just seen a ghost. She mouthed something, yet she continued to dance. Something had happened that no one had seen. What was it? He edged around the curtains, trying to get a full view of what exactly was going on. From what he could see, there was nothing out of the ordinary. So why had Lucy looked so scared? Did it have something to do with how weird she had been acting lately? The two continued to dance as if nothing was happening though. Maybe she was just nervous.. No. Something was definitely wrong and Lucy was trying to continue regardless. Natsu could feel the emotions boil up inside him, eager to help Lucy out. He had noticed over the past few days that she was hiding something. What was she hiding from everyone? And why didn't she trust him enough to tell him what it is? It hurt Natsu and angered him at the same time. For a while now he had sensed that something was up but Lucy was keeping it in. And he wanted to know. But he would have to worry about that later, because now something else had just gone wrong.

Both of her spirits vanished.

It took all Natsu had not to go out on that stage and find out what was wrong. He watched as Virgo and Lyra vanished into sparkling dust as they went back to the spirit world. He had seen Lucy learning her routine, (No, he had NOT been stalking her) and he didn't remember seeing her take back her spirits. But it got worse. Just as the two spirits went back, Lucy began to wobble around as if she couldn't even stand. Her face was twisted as if she were in terrible pain. Had she changed the act or something? Or was she actually in pain? He didn't know what to do. He was the only one near the curtains because he was next, so there wasn't anyone to consult about what she was doing. It was up to him. His eyes flashed with a mixture of emotions as she fell to the ground, letting out a loud thump. Natsu could have sworn she had looked him in the eyes just before she fell. Her eyes.. Were terrified. Why would she be scared? A slight gasp was heard from the crowd, unsure of what exactly was happening to the performer. Natsu's mind was ablaze, arguing over what to do. Should he go out there and make sure she's okay, or just wait and see if it's part of the show? Then it hit him. Why did he even hesitate in the first place? The answer was obvious!

He started to yell after her, but was shortly stopped after what he saw. Natsu froze in midstep, his arm outstretched, as Lucy slowly rose to her feet. Just the way the light was hitting her, he could see a small tear fall down the side of her cheek. What was going on? He couldn't make any sense of the situation, only that Lucy was hurt. He was so confused, and the only thing he wanted to do was to go out there and just grab her. To make sure she was ok, to see if there was anything wrong. But overtop all of those thoughts, he wanted to know why he was thinking these things. He had never felt so worried about her before, so why was it now he was so anxious? He watched her as she slowly danced towards the backstage. It seemed as though she was barely conscious. He could see her arms and legs shaking as they carried her closer and closer to him. What was that look she just gave him? Or was it even directed towards him? Could she see him? No.. The shadow cast by the curtain was too dark especially since it was night. She looked like she was about to fall. Wait.. She is! Natsu lunged forwards as Lucy fell into the backstage. The curtains closed and the stage was blocked off from the crowd. He caught her in his arms, her limp body finally giving out. For a second, he had no idea what to do.

"LUCY!" He shouted. One minute, she had been dancing on the stage, and now.. She was passed out in his arms! Getting his thoughts together, he looked around frantically.

"H-help!" He stammered. "Something's wrong with Lucy!" The backstage had been cleared since everyone was getting ready for the next performance. It was just him. Natsu shifted Lucy's body so that he was carrying her in a bridal position. He ran out of the side stage, and off the set into the big tent that everyone was in getting ready. Various faces greeted him, ones of shock and fear. He knew what they were all thinking. What happened? And that was a question he was still pondering himself. He barely noticed as a crowd began to form around him. All that mattered was getting Lucy to Wendy. He searched the tent for her, and found the small girl sitting in the corner, Carla helping her tie a headdress onto Bisca for her performance.

"Natsu! What are you doing? You're supposed to be-" Erza froze in mid-sentence. "Lucy!" She gasped, running over. "What happened?" She asked Natsu.

"I don't know! In the middle of the show, she just fell down! Then she got back up, came over to me, and just fell over! HELP ME!" He shrieked. Erza nodded.

"Take her to Wendy." She ordered, pushing Natsu towards the girl then heading off to go inform the Master. Wendy looked up at Natsu, dropping the small mirror she had to the ground. Her hands covered her mouth in surprise as she took in the sight of Lucy's limp body.

"What happened?!" She cried.

"I don't know! She just passed out!" He explained once again. Wendy quickly recovered and motioned for Natsu to follow her.

"This way." She said, heading outside of the tent and into the guild. Natsu kicked the big door open, rushing in next to Wendy making his way to the infirmary. He carefully set Lucy down on the nearest bed, making sure not to jostle her too much in the process. He stepped back, allowing Wendy to take his place and examine her. A small crowd had followed them into the infirmary. People whispered worried things, commenting on how pale she looked. Some asked what happened, others wanted to know if she was still alive based on how sickly she looked. Natsu had enough.

"I. DON'T. KNOW!" He screamed to all of them. They stepped back in fear, Natsu marching up to the crowd with anger. "Give her some space! If you really want her better, then just leave her alone!" He yelled. They all looked at each other, nodding in agreement. They slowly made their way out of the tiny infirmary, following Natsu's orders. It wasn't until then that Natsu had realized how heavy he had been breathing. Was he really that pumped up? He felt his hands shaking with..

_'With what?' _He asked himself. But he knew.. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. Natsu was scared. He was scared that something had happened to Lucy, and he had just sit there not doing a thing. He watched Wendy work from his spot against the wall. She looked so pale. How had he not noticed this before? She had bags under her eyes which you could tell she had obviously tried to hide with heavy make-up. She looked skinnier, frailer. And her eyes.. He had seen them before she passed out. They were missing that joyful glisten they had always carried. Why didn't he see this earlier? He could've helped her! He knew something was wrong! Natsu stepped outside and punched the wall in frustration. This was all his fault! If only.. If only he hadn't been so stupid! Lucy was right about him.. Every single thing she said to him in the kitchen, she was right. And this just proved it more. She didn't deserve someone as stupid as him. She needed friends that would watch out for her. Not a guy who ignored the most obvious things.

Wendy stepped back from the bed, calling Natsu over to where she stood.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked, coming back in and looking at her.

She was awake.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open. They were just how Natsu remembered. Glazed over and emotionless. "What happened.." She muttered. Natsu shook his head. Even she didn't know..

"You passed out on the stage." He answered quietly. Lucy's face immediately alerted. She sat straight up.

"Did anyone see?!" She asked frantically. Natsu grabbed her shoulder.

"Calm down! It's gonna be okay. No one saw you." He said to her. Lucy lied back down. Natsu could already tell she was about to fall asleep again.

"Listen.. Natsu.." She started.

"I already told you. It's gonna be okay." He replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. He sat down on the bench beside her bed.

"No.. I mean.." Lucy hesitated. "I'm sorry." She apologized. Natsu couldn't find the words to reply. What was he supposed to say? Why was she apologizing? "

I didn't mean.. What I said.." Before she could finish, her eyes closed and she passed out again. Natsu knew what she meant. But no matter what she said, he knew it was true. He turned to Wendy, expecting the worst.

"So do you know what's wrong with her?" He asked. Wendy nodded, but couldn't meet his eyes. Something was definitely wrong.

"Tell me. I can handle it." He said to her sternly. He didn't mean to be so rude, but he needed to know. He needed to know if he could help her, and why she couldn't trust him enough to tell him what was wrong.

"She.." Wendy started. Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"What?" Natsu asked, the fear beginning to creep in once again. What was so terrible that it could bring a young girl to tears?

"Her magic power.. It's declining." Wendy answered. It took Natsu a second to comprehend what she meant.

"But.. Why? Why is she losing magic power?" He asked, not really understanding. Wendy fell to her knees, covering her face. She shook her head.

"I don't know! But if it continues, then we both know what will happen.." Wendy cried. Natsu froze. He hadn't even thought about that. It was a basic thing that every wizard should know.. Lose all your magic power, and..

You die.

It hurt him to even think about it. The thought of losing Lucy was too much. Just thinking about never seeing that wonderful smile again, he laugh, even when she yelled at him, made him want to scream. But he didn't know why.. And just as she had told him, there were a lot of things he didn't know. He didn't know why she was losing power, why he was so scared.. It seemed as though it was Lucy that made him lose his mind. And that was another thing he didn't know why!

Wendy grabbed his hand, standing up and looking him through tear filled eyes. "Natsu.. When did she start acting up?" She asked quietly. Natsu thought for a moment.

"About.. A week or so ago?" He answered slightly confused. Wendy let out a slight whimper in surprise.

"What?" He asked, pushing the chair back and standing up.

"Natsu, her magic power is half of the size it used to be."

* * *

**Eheheh.. Cliffy! BTW if you guys like Instagram, you can follow me :) I post pairing pictures under the name mavis_the_fairy_shipper so yeah.. Check me out and let me know if you read this! I'd be so happy ^.^ and don't forget to comment, follow, and favorite this story! I'd appreciate it ;) Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter Seven: The Poison Activates

**- Chapter 7 -**

**The Poison Activates**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Natsu refused to let Lucy leave the guild's infirmary for the whole night. No, he didn't feel like he was going overboard. Now that he knew something was wrong with her, he was going to be as cautious as possible. So, the entire night of the festival, Natsu had stayed by her side. Many times, someone from the guild would offer to switch with him so he could get some rest. But he always declined their offer. Lucy was his best friend, and he wanted to be sure she was alright. Especially since he hadn't noticed something was wrong before. He felt as though this whole mess was his fault. She woke up once or twice asking to go home to sleep in her own bed, but every time Natsu answered with the same thing. Blunt it may have been, it was completely necessary.

"No."

And she, in turn, would always reply with the same thing. Because she knew there was no going against the stubborn pink-headed idiot.

"Fine."

And then, she would lie back down, and fall right back asleep. Just as Natsu wanted her. He couldn't explain why he felt the need to sit there and make sure she was ok, just that somewhere deep inside him, he knew. He knew that if he left, his worries for her would eat him alive. After what Wendy had told him, about her magic power being half of what it used to be, he wasn't sure he'd be able to let her out of his sight until this whole mess cleared up. They only had maybe about a week left to figure out why this was happening to her. He had to spend every waking moment that he had to get to the bottom of this. That is, if he wanted to save his best friend. And there was no doubt in his mind that he did.

Finally, around eight or so in the morning after the Festival, Lucy woke up again. "Natsu?" She asked, gently poking him. His head shot up from where he had been resting it on the side of her bed.

"Yo! Good to have you awake again!" He answered, ignoring the sleepiness from staying up all night. Her face looked as though she wanted to ask him something, but she was hesitating. If she had something to say, why didn't she just say it?

"Listen.. Natsu.." She started. There was no easy way to say this.

"Yeah? What is it Luce?" He said, getting slightly suspicious of her tone.

"I need you to forget about what happened last night." She said. "There's nothing wrong.. I just.. I think I've caught an illness or something, so that's why I've been acting so weird lately. So don't worry about me." She finished, looking at Natsu sincerely. But he knew. He knew she was lying. And the best thing he could do for her now, was to keep things like they had been until he could figure out what was going on. As much as it pained him to have to say this, he knew it had to be done.

"Yeah, that's what Wendy said last night." Natsu lied. It was for her own good. No matter how much his heart told him to scream in her face that she was closing in on death and she needed to tell him what was wrong NOW, he didn't. For once in his life, he needed to be smart if it meant he got to save the life of his best friend. "She told me you had a bad cold or something like that and had to rest for a while." He said. Lucy let out a quiet sigh of relief, then nodded.

"Then it's settled. I'm fine." She said, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you think I can go home now?" Lucy giggled, turning her attention back to Natsu with a forced smile. He snickered, thinking of her previous failures at trying to leave that night.

"I guess. You know, since you're fine and all. If you really think so." Natsu sighed, getting up from his chair. He held a hand out.

Lucy looked at his hand, slightly confused at the gesture. It was the same one he'd given her at the Grand Magic Games, after she fought Flare. Odd. Nevertheless, she took it gratefully. It was after she swung her legs out from under the covers, that she realized.

She was in her underwear.

Lucy looked up at Natsu.

"What?" He asked.

"GET OUT!"

* * *

The guild just isn't the same when it's missing someone. That's the one thing EVERY member can agree on. What makes Fairy Tail so special is the fact that each individual has their own special role and place there. It's like an assembly line full of angry family members. They all love and hate each other at the same time, but if one of them were to leave, the whole place would come crashing down. And that's exactly how it went that day at the guild. And today, the missing angry-family-assembly line worker was Lucy. The reaction? Nothing. And that, was the problem. Usually, Lucy was the one that kept everyone at bay. And the way she would act upon that job was by calming down the main problem. Which was usually Natsu. And Natsu, was doing nothing. He was quietly (Yes, quietly) moping around doing whatever he was told. So the cycle of getting angry, starting a riot, and being calmed back down was just suddenly halted. And what was left was a boring old guild who was stumbling around with nothing to do but clean up from the night before.

"What's up with you today, flame-brains?" Gray asked the unusually down dragon slayer.

"Nothing." Which, wasn't actually a lie. He was just.. Nothing. The life of the guild was just nothing. And it was really taking a toll. Natsu couldn't seem to get his mind of Lucy. His head was racing with thoughts on what could possibly be wrong with her, reasons why she wasn't sharing it, possible things he might have done to her to make her mad at him, and so many other things that he thought would never enter his mind in a million years. I mean, he just found out his best friend was about a week away from dying, and he couldn't even say anything to her about it! How was he supposed to react?! After about an hour of pouting, Natsu had enough. He was going to get to the bottom of this. And he was going to need some help.

"Yo! Levy!" Natsu called, breaking the silence that had filled the guild. Everyone turned their attention to Natsu, who was doing the only interesting thing at that moment, which was talking. Levy looked up from her book and over at Natsu, who was across the room.

"Y-Yes?" She stuttered, surprised at his random yell. He marched over from where he had been moving crates to where she was sitting at the bar.

"What do you think is up with Lucy?"

This question gained the attention of the rest of the guild that hadn't been looking before. Everyone had noticed how tired the Celestial mage had been looking lately, and when Natsu had brought her into the tent the night before, it only strengthened their suspicions that something was going on. Levy carefully set down her book, averting Natsu's determined gaze.

"I don't really know." She answered truthfully. "I'm really worried though. I can tell something's wrong, but she won't share it with me!" Levy cried.

"I have noticed a change in her as well." Erza chimed in, heading over to the bar to join the two. "She looks and acts different. And last night, that was certainly something I hadn't expected."

"Yeah! The poor girl is as pale as a ghost!" Said a voice that was surprisingly close. The three looked around, trying to find the source. It turned out to be Cana, who had been drinking behind the counter.

"And those bags under her eyes.." Mirajane sighed, washing a dish quietly. More and more members of the guild had joined in on the conversation, dropping whatever they were doing until a loud discussion had begun about the blonde. It seemed that more people had noticed than Natsu had thought, which consisted of pretty much the entire guild.

"Oi! Listen up!" Natsu yelled over the crowd, silencing them. He made his way to the front and climbed on top of the bar so everyone could see him. The group slowly returned to a quiet state, allowing Natsu to talk.

"If there's something wrong with Luce, then what are we doing just commenting about it? Let's go and do something!" He said seriously. "I mean we're not doing much for her by just talking about how bad she looks. Come on guys, let's think!" For a moment people were giving each other nods and looks of agreement, until that ONE person had to say something smart.

"What are you, her boyfriend?" He snorted.

Natsu narrowed his eyes and snapped his head around to glare at the voice.

Gray.

"What're you talkin' about?" He asked. He may not understand what Gray was saying, but right now, anything that came out of that guy's mouth was going to tick him off.

"Well I mean you're talking about her just as much as we are, so how about YOU go do something?" Gray challenged, making his way to the front to glare up at Natsu. Natsu jumped down, returning the stare.

"Fine then! I will! But don't come crying to me when she's mad at you for not caring." Natsu retorted, sticking his tongue out. He whirled around in a huff, and marched out of the guild. He was gonna show that underwear prince who was boss. He would be the one to save Lucy! Not Gray.

"Definitely her boyfriend." Mira giggled.

"No doubt!" Levy smiled.

* * *

Natsu had taken a BIT of a detour on his way to Lucy's house.. Okay, maybe not a BIT but probably he went to the other side of Magnolia. I mean, he had a few good reasons! First of all, he had to dump Happy. The guy was known for not being able to keep his mouth shut, and he needed to make sure this was done right. Therefore, Happy had to go. The other reason? As much as Natsu hated to admit it, he was nervous. He didn't exactly know why, but he just felt that feeling in the pit of his stomach.. That he was going to stumble upon something he didn't want to see. So by the time Natsu had dropped Happy off near the docks to go fishing, the moon was getting closer and closer to taking over the sun for the day. Natsu finally decided to stop stalling, and began his long trek back to Lucy's house on the other side of Magnolia. The more time he wasted, the less time he had to save Lucy from whatever was eating her alive.

It was about an hour before he finally reached her house, and it was then that he realized how stupid he was. Of course she wouldn't be there as soon as she arrived! Had he thought that she would magically be sitting on the steps to her house, waiting for him to come and make sure she was okay? Man, he was dumb. It could be hours before Lucy got to her house! Or, she could even be in there now and he could wait outside all night. There was just no telling with this girl. Before he stormed out of the guild, he should have asked if anyone knew what she was going to do today. Maybe he could just go up to her window real quick, and check if she was in there. He stood out in the open near the edge of the water, pondering his options on how to spy on his friend. He could risk her seeing him by looking through her window, or he could just chill out and wait for a possible entire night to see her. Thankfully though, neither of those choices were needed. Because here came the exact girl he was looking for!

"Gah!" He shrieked, quietly, diving into a nearby bush. Thankfully he could still see her from his hiding spot. That.. Was too close for comfort. He watched Lucy turn her head in his direction, his heart leaping into his throat. Could she see him? Apparently not, because a split second later she shrugged and went back to whatever she was doing, which happened to be making her way into the dark alley beside her house. Now, Natsu was fairly educated. He knew that dark alleys = trouble. And for someone who had about a week or so to live to go into one wasn't exactly a good sign from his point of view. I mean, what could Lucy possibly be doing in an alley way in the middle of the night alone? And that's when he smelled him. That horrible fancy cologne. The one he had smelled when he dropped Lucy off here after a mission, the one he smelled when that column almost fell on her, and at the show, when Lucy was on stage. He watched as the man literally came out of the shadows, appearing in front of Lucy. She backed up a bit against the wall, clearly trying to keep her distance. But he wouldn't allow that. He stepped closer to her, provoking Natsu with each sickening step he took. And when that man put his arm on Lucy's shoulder, it made him want to hurl. Who did this man think he was? The man and Lucy talked for a second. The conversation ended with Lucy giving a slight nod. And that's when Natsu realized. No..

This man was taking Lucy's power.

That one hand that Natsu had seen him lay on Lucy earlier, was now draining Lucy of her magic power. And by the looks of it, the pain was unbearable. Lucy was clawing at his arm, her body visibly shaking from the terrible ache of losing part of herself. She slid down the wall, collapsing. Yet the man continued to steal from her. That was it. Just seeing Lucy holding back her screams was enough to make Natsu explode. And without hesitation, that's exactly what he did.

"LUCY!" Natsu yelled, dashing out of the bush. He sprinted into the alleyway, Lucy looking at him through tear filled eyes.

"N-No.." She whispered. She dropped her head and covered her face with her hands. It was all over now. Natsu looked at her with concern. Why was she so upset that he had come? He stepped in front of her, turning his attention to the man. He looked at him with angry eyes.

"I knew there was something up with you. And now, you're gonna pay for hurting Lucy!" Natsu yelled. He lit his fists, and charged at the man. He waited for the satisfying feeling of his jaw crushing under his fist, but it never came. Instead, Natsu stopped in mid swing. It was as if he had no control over his body. He struggled to move his arm, to knock the guy out for hurting Luce, but he couldn't. No matter how much he tried to move, his body wouldn't let him.

"W-What did you do to me?!" Natsu gasped, finding he could barely move his mouth enough to talk. Everything seemed as though it was frozen in time for him.

"No! Stop! Toku, I'm begging you, don't do it!" He heard Lucy cry behind him. He felt her fling herself onto him, pulling him into a hug. He collapsed in her grip, still unable to move his body. He looked up at her. Her face was twisted into a whirlpool of emotions. Her cheeks were stained red from her many tears. She looked angry, sad, and terrified all at the same time. She tightened her arms around him, pulling him onto her lap as if she was shielding him from something. But what? Then, he felt it. Natsu cried out in pain as he felt the wrenching pain of his blood boiling inside him. Something inside of him was eating him from the inside out, and it hurt. It hurt so bad. More than any attack he had ever received. Because, whatever this happened to be was killing him. Natsu desperately tried to move, to claw away at his body to make the horrible pain stop. He began to gain more control of his body, but it didn't matter. He caught glimpses of Lucy looking down at him, crying and screaming for the man to stop. Was this Toku guy the cause of his pain? He just wanted more than anything to get up and put this guy in his place. But he couldn't. He began to feel numb all around, his emotions dimming, his body thrashing less, and his heart less willing to move. He was dying. But he couldn't! Not here, not now! He had too much left to do! Natsu looked up at Lucy, who was still crying. There was still one thing left that he could do.

"L-Luce.. Why are you crying?" He whispered, gaining her attention. She stopped and looked down at him, her face horrified. "It's gonna be okay.. Don't cry.. I always hated it.. When you.. did that.." He rasped. Natsu brought his hand up to her cheek, trying to smile for her and give her strength. He couldn't stand to watch her cry. Not now. "S-Smile.." Natsu's hand dropped, his eyes slowly closing shut. In truth, that's all he ever wanted to for. That's why he came here to figure out what was wrong. It was all because he wanted her to just smile again.

"No! Natsu! You can't! Come back!" She cried, shaking him. "Wake up!" Lucy screamed. She whirled her head around at Toku, who was laughing hysterically.

"Bring him back! I'm begging you!" Lucy shrieked, dropping Natsu and grabbing at Toku's hand. "Just give me one more chance! I promise, I won't let him do anything! Just bring Natsu back!" Lucy cried. She fell to the ground at his feet. She couldn't lose him.. Because..

She loved him.


	9. Chapter Eight: No Recollection

**IM SO SORRY EVERYONE T.T I know I haven't been very consistent with my updates, but I've just been so busy lately. I hurt my leg and so I have to tend to that and I also have another FanFiction that needs to get typed before the end of this month. Then I have sports practice, work, etc.. So I'm trying my best to get these chapters to you! Thanks for dealing with me ^.^ I'm going to try and get chapter 9 up sometime this week, and 10 up this Friday. I don't know.. Like I said, I will TRY, but I can't promise! And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you have ANY tips on how I could be a better writer, I would absolutly LOVE to hear from you. Thank you everyone who has stuck with this story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

**- Chapter 8 -**

**No Recollection**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Natsu shivered the entire night.

Lucy did everything she could to help him. She tried to bring up his fever, (Yes, up. It turned out that whenever a fire Dragon Slayer got sick, his fever apparently went down and made him cold) let him have her bed, she fed him water, she kept warm towels on his forehead, anything to make sure he didn't die on her. After all, she had just realized how she felt for the guy. Who knew that it would take his near death for her to realize that it was him she wanted to spend her life with. Just the thought of never seeing him again, his goofy smile and rambunctious actions was enough to make her want to cry. She didn't want to lose him! He was everything to her. Her savior, best friend, partner, guild mate, the guy who made her laugh when she was sad. The guy who wouldn't hesitate to give his very life for her own. How had she not seen it before? She gazed at him in the dark, sweat covering his face. Even though she had managed to get Toku to bring him back in exchange for more power, she still hadn't been sure that Natsu would make it. For a split second, Natsu had been dead. She could still feel the terrible motion of his heart suddenly coming to a stop on her lap. And it was all her fault. She had been too clumsy. Too unaware of her actions. For that one second, she felt true terror and sadness. At that moment Lucy would have done just about anything to bring him back. She felt hollow inside, and the pain was even worse than having her magic power taken away. It had been then, that she had figured it out.

She loved him.

And that was why she couldn't let him die; not now, after all they'd been through. After she had just realized her feelings. Lucy had felt them in the back of her mind for a while now. That slight flutter of her heart whenever he touched her. The blush that rose to her cheeks every time he got too close. She was going to do everything in her power to make sure this pyromaniac didn't leave this world. Anything it took. She would do it. Toku had erased his memory so that when he woke up, he would have no recollection of the night before. It was what was best. Lucy knew that there would be no convincing him not to go beat Toku to a pulp that instant, so it would be easier to just set things back to the way they were. It hurt her to do so, but like she had promised before.. She would do anything for her friends. Especially him.

"L-Lucy.." Natsu muttered, moving around under the blankets.

Lucy dropped the washcloth she had been holding under some cold water, and ran over to her bed. She sat down in the chair beside him. Was he awake? Why was he calling for her? She carefully glanced over at him, unsure of what exactly she would find. The morning sun was just beginning to come out, casting a light glow over him. She could see his face. It was twisted in pain and shining with sweat. His body was trying its best to fight off the infection and heal itself, putting a lot on the poor guy. Even though Toku had deactivated the curse, it was still left there in his body. She placed her hand on his arm. His body reacted to her touch, jumping a bit. She felt him shiver under her hold. What Lucy really wanted was to climb in that bed and just hug him until he was his normal self again. The sun slowly faded away, being taken over by a dark cloud. It was going to rain today. She laughed bitterly. It was like a sad tragedy, and even the weather was aware of that now.

Not really knowing what else to do for him, she leaned down. "I'm here, Natsu." She whispered. Maybe she was being a bit depressing. Lucy needed to look on the bright side; at least he had said something! That was a good sign. But why was he calling for her? Had he been dreaming about her? The blonde studied his face. She brought her hand up to his forehead. Stone cold, yet dripping wet. She really didn't understand this. How could he be so cold yet so sweaty? Without even realizing it, Lucy was slowly closing the gap between the two. It felt as though something was pulling her in. As if she-

"LUCY!" Natsu shrieked, bolting upright in the bed.

Lucy's hands flew off Natsu's arm, throwing her body backwards into the chair. Had he been awake?! Did he see her? What if he.. Lucy's thoughts were interrupted by the very cause of them. Natsu looked around the room wildly, as if he was searching for something. His breath came out in short rasps as he tried to get his bearings.

"W-What is it, Natsu?" Lucy asked gaining his attention. He whirled his head around to look at her. His eyes were full of fear and anger. Her heart stopped. That look.. Did he remember?

"I don't know.. I just.. Said that. I'm not sure why." He answered. Natsu brought his hand up to his face, wiping off the pool of sweat that he had been emitting. His expression changed into one of confusion.

"You're acting really weird." Lucy said, glaring at him. The guy had nearly made HER heart stop! What was wrong with him?! She should have known by now not to get near that guy when he was sleeping. She couldn't take another Iron Dragon's Fist to the face!

"I feel really weird!" Natsu said, looking at her. "It's like.. I was supposed to do something really important, but I forgot." He rubbed his temples harder, determined on figuring out what was going on. Natsu scanned his brain, trying to remember. What was it? What was so important! Obviously it had something to with Lucy because that's the first thing that came to his mind when he woke up.

Wait..

"How did I get in here?" Natsu asked Lucy, looking at her suspiciously. He couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was he was walking to Lucy's house for some reason. No.. Wait. He was running. He was desperate to get there! But why? Why did he need to see Lucy?

"I, uh.." She coughed. Think, Lucy! She screamed at herself.

"You came over last night because you weren't feeling good then just passed out." Lucy explained nervously. She bit her lip as Natsu thought on her answer.

Natsu looked at her, confused for a second. "I don't really remember.. It's all kinda fuzzy and makes my head hurt to think about it. All I remember is something about me needing to see you." He replied. Lucy's eyes flashed with fear, but quickly recovered.

"It was probably just a dream. Don't worry about it." She laughed. Natsu shrugged.

"Whatever. I feel fine now, so wanna go to the guild? I'm feeling a job coming on!" Natsu said, throwing back the covers.

Lucy's face burst into an instant flame.

"NATSU!" She shrieked.

He stopped in mid-step. "What?"

"PUT ON SOME PANTS!"

* * *

"How the hell did you manage to lose your pants overnight?!" Lucy screamed at Natsu while they were making their way back to the guild. He scratched his head.

"How am I 'sposed to know what I do in my sleep?" He answered. "Much less have control over it."

Lucy face palmed. Seriously! He must be hanging around Gray WAY too much! That stripping habit was beginning to rub off on him.

The rest of the walk to the guild was filled with an awkward silence. She had seen.. Everything. It took mental block after mental block to keep those images out of her mind. What kind of guy (Other than Gray) loses his pants in the middle of the night?! She hadn't even seen him move for the long hours that she watched over him. Maybe Toku just teleported them away to give her some sort of surprise.. Okay that was unlikely. She willed herself not to bring Toku back into this. He was the last person she wanted to be thinking about right now.

Thankfully, it wasn't much longer until they reached the guild. The two entered like normal, expecting the usual large welcome. But instead, the guild was pretty empty. Gray stood in the corner with Juvia, Mira at the bar, Happy, Carla, and Lily on a table near Levy, Gajeel, and Wendy. Happy flew over excitedly, attacking the Dragon Slayer's face with a hug.

"Natsu!" He wailed. "Where were you last night? You left me with fish and I got a huge tummy ache! Carla and Wendy had to come and get me!" Happy cried.

Natsu carefully picked Happy off his face, and held him out in front of him. "To be honest, I have no idea where I was last night." Happy frowned, clearly unsatisfied with his response. "But Luce and I decided to go on a job!" He said excitedly.

"Yay! We needed some more jewels any way to add to our food fund!" Happy cheered. He jumped out of Natsu's grip, flying over to the request board. The two mages followed behind.

"So what kind of job are you thinking about?" Lucy asked Natsu, who was already fretting over the job board. He leaned in close to it, taking in all the details for every single request.

"Definitely a fighting one.." He muttered, clearly absorbed in the thinking process. Lucy felt the lump in her throat reappear. He just LOVED to make this curse business hard on her.. She had to change his mind.

"M-Maybe we could, you know," Lucy started, scratching her chin in nervously, "pick an easy one this time? Like, shelving books!" She suggested.

"But you picked the job last time!" Natsu whined. He looked up at her with those big puppy eyes, or should she say dragon eyes..

"Gah! Fine." Lucy hissed. "Do what you want." She pouted, crossing her arms and turning away. That wasn't the first time he had used that look on her. And it wasn't the first time to work either. Natsu let out a silent cheer, turning his attention back to the job board.

How was she supposed to go on a job like this? Before the two had left that morning, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked like she had pulled a week of all-nighters! She was losing more and more power by the day.. And now, after losing twice as much thanks to Natsu, there was no telling what kind of effect it could have on her now. The pain was getting stronger each time Toku stole her power. Would there be a time when she was finally unable to summon one without passing out instantly? More importantly.. When was that time? Lucy thought about when this started. Maybe about a week ago. So if she lost roughly half her power in a week, then-

"Found one!" Natsu shouted. He waved a paper in her face, Happy whizzing around her head in excitement.

"This one is perfect!" Happy giggled. "Not only are there 9 monsters, but we get to search the whole forest for them!" He cheered.

"And how exactly is searching the whole forest great?" Lucy muttered. This cat was going to give her a headache. Natsu patted her on the back.

"Don't worry, Luce, it'll be fine!" He reassured her. Suddenly, Natsu leaned forward. Their faces were just inches apart. Lucy could feel her face heating up to the temperature of Natsu's flames. What was he doing?!

He gave her a sly look, moving his head around to see if anyone was watching. All clear. "Plus.." his whispers sent shivers down her spine. Lucy fought back the urge to shove him across the guild and to run away in terror. "..the pay is GREAT. As long as Erza and Gray don't hear that we're going on a job, we could each get-"

"What was that about Erza and Gray?" Came a strong voice from behind the two. Natsu's face froze in terror. They both could guess who that voice belonged to.

"N-Nothing, Erza!" Natsu laughed nervously, leaping away from Lucy. Lucy turned around to see Erza walk in, and Gray looking over upon hearing his name. He and Juvia headed towards the three.

"Tell me." She demanded. Erza strode up to Natsu, knocking him onto his knees. "Tell me!" She said, a bit more forceful this time. Lucy stepped backwards from the two, joining Gray and Juvia. Juvia hissed at the appearance of her love rival, walking in between her and Gray so they weren't together.

"It's just a j-job!" Natsu sputtered, struggling in Erza's grip on his arm.

"And?" She asked.

"The pay's pretty high!" He quickly added. Erza nodded, dropping Natsu down to the ground. He lied down, defeated.

"I've been meaning to get some more jewel to purchase a new set of armor." Erza said. She took the paper from Lucy's shaking hands, reading over the details. "That settles it. We'll head out tonight. It's not far from here, so we can walk."

At the mention of walking, Natsu immediately brightened up. "I hadn't even thought about that!" He said excitedly.

_'Walk? In THIS weather?' _Lucy thought to herself. She glanced out of the guild's window. It was pouring down rain! That cloud she had seen this morning was no doubt going to last for at least the next few hours. Maybe if she was lucky, it would turn into more of a drizzle instead of Juvia when Gray wasn't around.

"Oh great. I was looking forward to the quietness of your suffering." Gray muttered.

"What was that, ice breath?!" Natsu yelled, instantly in front of Gray with a fist raised.

"All I'm saying is that my life is much more enjoyable when you're not fire-spazzing everywhere." Gray shrugged, giving Natsu a sly smile.

"Shut up you bastard!" Natsu growled, throwing a punch towards Gray. He dodged, stepping behind Natsu. He kicked him to the ground, Natsu jumping back up off his hands and catapulting himself into Gray. The two fell to the ground in a tangled mess, punches and kicks flying everywhere. Erza walked up to the two, grabbing them each by the necks.

"Unless you two want me to lose my brand new set of armor before I've even got it, I suggest you both go and pack for our job." Erza threatened, glaring at the two. Happy flew behind Lucy, hiding behind her from Erza's rath. He'd felt it before, and never wanted to again. Erza released the grip on the two's throats and walked off, heading out of the guild to gather her cart load of things. Gray and Natsu gave each other one last look, then both stalked off separate ways.

"Wait for me Natsu!" Happy called, leaping out from behind Lucy and following his best buddy. Lucy watched as her teammates left the guild. Guess her death was now inevitable.

* * *

"So what exactly is this job?" Lucy asked, looking over at Erza. She didn't get much of a chance to research it like usual because she had to go tell Toku that she would be leaving for yet another job. The blonde could barely see or hear her friend over the pouring rain. However, she was apparently the only one available since Gray and Natsu were too busy yelling at each other behind them. Erza turned around and began walking backwards, all the while looking through her giant cart for the sheet on the job. She pulled it out, and turned back around. She read it over for a minute, then effortlessly put it back in its original spot in her pile as if it was no major feat to walk backwards in slippery mud pulling a cart of things with one hand in pouring rain.

"Basically, there was a lacrima accident in a factory. Nine animals had unstable lacrima implanted in them, causing them to mutate into monsters and riot throughout the town and into the forest. They're destroying crops and effecting the wildlife." Erza explained. "So really, we either have to beat them up to the point where they no longer harm the locals, or rip out the lacrima from their stomachs."

"Violent.." Lucy muttered, turning away to hide her shocked face, not that it mattered much since you could barely see a foot in front of you.

"Isn't it exciting?" Natsu yelled randomly, joining the two females in the front of the group. Lucy jumped at the sudden appearance of the pink-headed mage. This whole scenery was just putting her on edge. She half expected a maniac killer to jump out of the bushes any second.

"Speak for yourself.." Lucy sighed. There was really something wrong with this guy. For all they knew, the monsters could be higher than S-Class strength! How was she supposed to defeat something like that with her power now? I mean, she probably couldn't even take on an S-Class BEFORE she met Toku! Lucy sighed. Why, of all people, did she stay with this group? They were way out of her league!

"Don't worry Luce, I'm sure you'll be fine! After all, you're a Fairy Tail wizard!" Natsu said, a bit more serious this time, throwing an arm around her. Lucy blushed. She could feel the unnatural heat radiating off of him and onto her, instantly making her body feel much drier than before. It actually felt..

Nice.

Him holding her this way.

It was pretty-

Dammit!

Lucy threw Natsu off, her face even more red than his flames. He looked at her, slightly offended.

"Geez, what's with you?" He pouted, crossing his arms and turning away. Lucy instantly regretted her actions.

"Sorry.." She muttered. "You just kind of scared me is all." Natsu smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat!" He teased. Lucy flashed her eyes angrily at him, causing him to back up into Gray.

"Watch where you're stumbling, idiot!" Gray yelled, shoving Natsu off him.

Big mistake.

Natsu flew into the cart that Erza was carrying, knocking it over. He sat up in the pile of armor, clothes, spices, and whatever else she carried with her, only to be knocked right back down by a certain red-head.

"NATSU!" She growled, towering over him. "You insolent FOOL!" Erza bellowed, bringing out her sword. Natsu scrambled to his feet in terror, escaping into the woods and off the path.

"No! Come back!" Lucy cried, watching the two disappear into the forest.

"Don't worry, I'll bring 'em back." Gray said, following them in with nothing but his underwear.

"How did you- Never mind." Lucy huffed. Now even Gray was gone. What was she going to do? Knowing them, they probably wouldn't come back very quickly because they'd want to fight first. She sat down in the pile which was once Erza's many belongings. Already, she was getting soaked from the rain.

The heavy rain.

That came from clouds.

Dark eerie clouds.

Which made it hard to see.

To see if a killer was nearby.

"WAIT! COME BACK!" Lucy shrieked into the forest, standing up and looking around the path wildly. How could they just leave her alone in a dark forest?! This was the type of scene any writer could identify; the one where the main bad guy is introduced, and in this case.. The main monster.

"Luuucy.."

The blonde immediately froze. This was it.. This was where she would meet her end. When she turns around, she will meet the face of a psycho killer who wants to brutally rape her then kill her. When her friends come back, she'll be nothing but a blushing pile of flesh and bones. She slowly turned her head around, expecting to see a knife raised to her head. But all she saw, was blue.

"Luuucy.. It's cold.."

"STUPID CAT!" She screamed, knocking Happy out of the sky. He must have woken up from his nap in her backpack. Ungrateful animal.. He chose to go where it was dry instead of bearing the wetness like all the rest!

"Where did everyone go?" He whined from his spot on the ground.

"They left us.. To be murdered by monsters." Lucy muttered.

* * *

**Oh, happy. *Sweatdrop* You just couldn't grin and bear it, could ya? Well guess what! Now you're gonna get killed by monsters xD Haha just kidding**. **Or am I? *Mysterious look* So that's that! Next chapter is when things FINALLY start heating up for realizies. I'm trying to add a bit more NaLu fluff in, like little gestures, etc.. So if you have any suggestions on how this story could be better, or any tips, I would love to hear from you. SO! Don't forget to favorite and comment! I hope to see you guys again sooner this week ^.~**


	10. Chapter Nine: I'm That Much of a Burden?

**SORRY this is so late at night :( But I hadn't worked on it that much today so.. Yeah. WELL it's a really long chapter today to make up for how I missed an update, but the downside is I think the chapter is kind of rushed.. IDK you guys tell me. Okay well I really should be going to sleep, so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**- Chapter 9 -**

**Am I That Much of a Burden?**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

Lucy had thought the rain would never end. It was an ongoing downpour for what she estimated to be at LEAST an hour. Somehow, the world had managed to make it even darker than before. Lucy had no idea that the earth could get so dark. She couldn't see anything! After Happy had calmed down and fell asleep, every little noise made her jump. She had ended up making a bet with Happy; Lucy believed that it would still be raining by the time Natsu and the rest had returned. Happy guessed that the rain would stop by then. The prize? Winner gets to give the loser one order that they MUST follow. And as luck would have it, Lucy was the one who would be following an order that day. The group returned about ten minutes or so after the rain had stopped, the two males beaten and bruised. As usual, the Scarlet Mage came out unscathed.

'_How unsurprising..' _Lucy thought to herself.

The path looked no better than before the three had left. If anything, it looked a heck lot worse. They found Lucy, quite drenched, sitting in Erza's soaked pile of random objects, and Happy sleeping under a giant leaf, muttering something about Juvia missing Gray. There were puddles of water throughout the entire dirt road, creating small deposits of mud. Gray and Natsu trudged over to where Lucy sat, quietly taking their places next to her on top of Erza's knocked over cart. Natsu's eyes were so black and swollen it looked like he could barely see. And Gray didn't look too good himself either. It didn't take the two long though to notice the evil aura emitting from their blonde friend. They had felt all too much of that over the past hour with Erza. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, Natsu and Gray scrambled to their feet and sat themselves on the edge of the forest with a loud thump. Erza nodded her head with satisfaction, and cautiously made her way over to Lucy.

"You.. LEFT.. Me.." She mumbled. Erza stopped in her tracks, startled at Lucy's tone.

"You all.. LEFT ME!" She yelled angrily, her head whipping up to look at them all. Her face was twisted into one of anger, scaring Gray's clothes right off him.

"Listen, Lucy-" Erza started, putting her hands up nervously.

"NO!" Lucy screamed. "YOU listen to ME!" She stood abruptly, causing the almighty Erza to step back a bit. Natsu and Gray watched from the sidelines with awe and terror. "You three.. LEFT ME.. With.. With.." She stuttered, slowly raising her hand to point at the blue pile of fur under the leaf, who was now staring back at her with fear in his eyes.

"WITH HIM!" She shrieked. "A whole HOUR of nothing but fish!" Lucy stomped her feet and waved her arms, emphasizing at how angry she was. No. She was PISSED.

"Hey Lucy, did you know that there are over 30,000 different kinds of FISH? And did you know that Tuna can swim up to 43 miles per hour? I didn't until I read this book on fish! You know what else it said about fish Lucy? It said that Taicho fish are the tastiest out there! But you can only find them in the seas of Joya. I wanna try a fish like that! How about you, Lucy? Do you wanna try that fish? Maybe we can go fishing together! I think Natsu wouldn't mind coming either. He cooks the best fish! What if we combined his skills with cooking with that Taicho fish? Huh Lucy? Do you think that fish would taste good?" Lucy mimicked, all the while getting closer and closer to Happy until she finally scooped him up with one hand. Happy peered over at Natsu, looking for help, but Natsu only shook his head sadly. She was just too far gone.

"And you three LEFT ME with him!" She cried, finally dropping Happy and falling to her knees. "I'm cold, wet, fished out, and just plain tired." Her small cries eventually turned into full out sobs. She just wanted to get this job over with and go home. Gray and Natsu looked at each other, not really knowing what to do.

"Should we help her?" Gray whispered.

"I don't think that's smart. She might freak out again.." Natsu muttered.

"Well we can't just leave her like this! She'll scare all of the monsters away!" He hissed back. Natsu thought for a moment.

"We could always knock her out."

"What are you, crazy?" He exclaimed. "She'd slit our throats before we even got close! Someone's just gonna have to carry her until we can set up camp. And it's NOT going to be me." Gray folded his arms, nudging Natsu with his elbow to go pick her up.

Natsu swallowed nervously, shakily standing up and walking over to where Lucy sat on the ground crying. "H-Hey, Luce.." He cooed. "You doin' okay?"

Lucy shook her head, wiping her tears with her dirty arm. Natsu looked back at Gray once more. Gray nodded his head. Natsu turned back around and held out a hand to the blonde cautiously. She glanced up at him, her face covered in mud and tears. Thankfully, she took his hand without a problem.

"Get on my back. We'll head out and set up a camp site." He muttered, clearly embarrassed at what he was having to do. He really did feel bad for her though. There was something in the back of his mind, screaming at him that he should be worried about something. But he figured that this was it and that was his fear talking. Yet he still couldn't help but think there was something more to why she was so upset.

Lucy nodded, her cries turning into small sniffles. She wiped her face once more and climbed onto his back, resting her head on his shoulder. A slight blush made its way up to Natsu's cheeks, catching the attention of the other three. Erza just stood in the middle of it all, beginning to gather up what was left of her things. Gray slowly made his way to his feet, joining the others.

After they had all managed to salvage what wasn't ruined by the storm, they began to make their way back down the path.

* * *

By the time they had reached a suitable place for their campsite, Lucy had managed to fall asleep on Natsu's back. No one dared to wake her, for fear she would lash out once again. They had laid her down inside the tent for the girls, tucked in inside of her sleeping bag, Happy outside 'guarding' the entrance. Natsu and the others were sitting around the campfire, discussing the past events and events to come.

"Do you think it was really that bad, being there with Happy while we were gone?" Gray asked.

Erza nodded. "I don't know about you two, but Happy can be a bit.. Tiring."

"Well she certainly _seems_ tired." Natsu replied, glancing over at her tent where the blonde was sound asleep.

"Oh, speaking of her being tired, did you find out what was wrong Natsu?" Erza asked. Natsu looked back at her, slightly confused.

"Wrong with what?" He asked. Gray face palmed.

"With Lucy, you idiot!" Gray answered.

"I don't remember there being anything wrong. Are you talking about earlier today?" Natsu answered the two, who were now giving him slightly confused looks.

"You're telling me you don't remember?" Erza said, looking at him with worried eyes.

"Remember WHAT?" What the heck were they talking about? How was he supposed to know what was wrong with Lucy? Sure, she was his partner and all, but it's not like he went snooping around her personal life or anything.

"Natsu, last night, you told us that Lucy's magic power was half empty." Gray said seriously.

Lucy's magic power.. Half empty?

Natsu fell to the ground, grabbing his head in pain. Erza and Gray leapt up from their seats, instantly at Natsu's side. He hissed at the pain in his head, grabbing it as if that would make it stop. His head felt like it was going to explode! Suddenly, things began flowing back into his mind. He was.. Remembering. The moments that had been before fuzzy, were now clear. And agonizing. Natsu remembered everything about his visit with Lucy; why he had ran after her, why he felt so sick, and what that man did to her.

"We have to find him.." Natsu growled, slowly lowering his hands from his head. The pain had begun to subside now that his memories had returned. Everything made sense now! All the pieces were beginning to fit together.

"Find who?" Gray asked, looking at Natsu slightly confused.

"That man! The man who's stealing Lucy's magic!" Natsu said, this time a bit lower. Anger filled his voice as he thought more and more about what he had done to him; and Lucy. "It still all doesn't make much sense. All I'm was sure about is that this man, whose name is apparently Toku according to Lucy's cries, is taking her magic power. But for what reason? And why isn't she telling us?" Natsu explained to the others.

"So this man is taking her power.. And she's hiding it from us." Erza said to herself thoughtfully. "That must mean he is threatening her with something so she doesn't speak." She deduced. Gray and Natsu nodded. "Tell us exactly what happened that night, Natsu." Erza asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I went to her house later that night and hid in the bushes to wait for her."

"That sounds a bit stalker-ish.." Gray commented.

"Not the time, Gray." Erza glared at the ice mage.

"Sorry.." He muttered.

"Anyways, she came home and went into the alleyway behind her house. There this Toku guy just appeared out of nowhere, and the two started talking." Natsu explained.

"So he is obviously a mage." Erza added. "But what kind.."

"Then, he put his hands on her shoulders. I think that was when he started draining her power, because Lucy looked like she was in pain." Natsu clenched his fists. Just talking about that night was making him angry..

"Well I wasn't about to sit there and watch her pass out." He growled. "I went over there and confronted the guy. But for some reason, Lucy didn't want me there."

"So she is being blackmailed. And by her not wanting you there, he must be blackmailing her with us." Erza inferenced. "So basically, if Lucy doesn't give Toku her magic power, then something is going to happened to guild." She finished. Natsu and Gray looked at each other worriedly. No wonder she had been hiding this from them.. She was keeping the guild safe.

"Tell us the rest." Gray nudged Natsu, who nodded and continued.

"Well I tried to stop him, but right as I was about to hit him, something stopped me. I think it was his magic, because it felt like my blood had turned into poison. I couldn't move and Lucy kept begging him to stop.. And for a moment.." Natsu hesitated, unsure of his own memories. "I think.. I died. But I woke up in Lucy's bed, and I couldn't remember anything about the guy!" He narrowed his eyes. He wanted more than anything to go find Toku, and to beat him until all of Lucy's powers had returned!

Erza sighed. "Well, there's not much we can do about it now. At least we've figured out part of what's going on. After this job, let's go talk to the master about it. For now, we should try and get some sleep." She said.

"But if we tell the master, and go confront Toku, then won't he just hurt the guild, making all of Lucy's work in vain?" Gray asked, unsure of their plan. Natsu stood abruptly, marched up to Gray, and punched him in the jaw.

"N-Natsu?!" Erza stuttered.

Gray stumbled backwards, bringing a hand up to his face. "What was that for?!" He yelled.

"How could you even THINK about not telling the master?!" Natsu screamed at Gray. "Our safety is of no importance! Lucy is dying, she's willing to risk her LIFE for us! Shouldn't we do the same?" He growled. Gray cast his eyes down.

"Yeah. Sorry.." He muttered. He lowered his hand.

"Alright then. We have a big day ahead of us, so let's rest up for it." Erza sighed.

"Right." Natsu muttered. If he had it his way, they'd drop this mission and look for Toku right then and there. But they had to be smart.. Lucy's life was on the line here. He took one last glance at her tent, then went and lied down on his sleeping bag in front of the fire. Happy floated over to him, tears in his eyes.

"Natsu.. Is Lucy going to be okay?" He cried. Natsu flashed him his infamous smirk.

"Of course! I won't let anything happen to her." He reassured his best friend. Happy nodded, laying down next to him.

'_Don't worry Luce.. You won't be suffering for much longer.'_ Natsu thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"It's only nine monsters. The only way to make it equal is to split it into threes. Three for me, three for Gray, and three for Erza. Besides, we need SOMEONE to guard camp from robbers." Natsu explained to Lucy, who wasn't so keen on staying at the camp while the others went on the job.

"I know the request mentioned nearby robbers, but I still don't think we have anything to worry about!" Lucy whined. She didn't just want to sit around while the others did the jobs alone. Even though she wasn't near as powerful as them with her magic like this, she still felt as though she wanted to help.

"Please Luce, just do this for me- for us." Natsu pleaded. There was no way he would let her go out there when he knew what was going on. He didn't want anything to happen to her. She had to stay here for her own safety.

"For the last time, no!" She said to Natsu, this time a bit of anger in her voice.

"Lucy, you can't go!" He said back, raising his voice as well.

"I'm part of this team too!"

"Just listen to us!"

"I'm going whether you like it or not!"

"Well I don't like it!"

"You don't have to! I'm gonna fight just like the rest of you!"

"No, you're not!"

"Yes, I AM!" By then, the two were full out yelling at each other. Natsu had to think of something.. And quick.

"You'd just slow us down."

Lucy froze. Did he really just..

"Now stay here." Natsu ordered her, turning around. Happy flew solemnly behind him. His face was clear of emotion. But inside, it was a whirlwind of them. He hated that he had to lie to her like that, and he hated it even more that it came out as an insult. Couldn't he have said it in a nicer way? He didn't mean to be so.. Condescending. He couldn't bring himself to turn around and look at her as the group headed off into the forest. The look on her face might break his heart.

Lucy watched as the figures disappeared into the greenery, leaving her all alone. Her heart hurt from what Natsu had said to her.

'_You'd just slow us down.' _That sentence ran through her head over and over, hurting her even worse than Toku stealing her power. She knew that she was weak, but to hear it come from him.. From the man that she loved.. It made tears come to her eyes. Lucy wiped her face furiously. Stupid Natsu! To think that she actually loved him.. She laughed bitterly to herself. That wasn't love. It was a childish crush that was no more. She had always pictured Natsu as someone who valued lives as equals, but to hear him say that about her.. It made her rethink everything about him. That had been what she loved about him. His fairness and eagerness to treat others right, that everyone was just as important as the other. But apparently that was all just talk. He really was a jerk. And it was only now that Lucy was able to see the real side of him. But so what if she slows them down? They're all in this together! They're a team, and he's the one who taught her that, even if he was lying! Lucy stood up furiously. She'd show him that even though she is weak, she could still stand up for herself. And take out those monsters.

* * *

It felt like it had been hours since Lucy had left the camp site, but she knew that it was only about thirty minutes. Who knew how hard it would be to be alone with a head full of thoughts and a heart full of emotions? It was certainly taking a toll on her. Lucy would find herself angry at Natsu one minute, then completely depressed about the matter! She wanted to forget that he had ever said that to her, but she knew nothing could change that those words expressed how he pictured her. She thought back to all the times he had saved her.. When she was kidnapped by Phantom Lord, when she was being absorbed by the Infinity Clock, and during the Grand Magic games. Each of those times, had Natsu been annoyed by the fact that she was so weak? Had she been that much of a nuisance to him? Was she really that much of a burden on them that they didn't want her on missions anymore? No matter how much she tried, Lucy couldn't get these thoughts out of her mind. Every single new one that entered only made her hurt more. It came to the point where she started singing out loud to try and take her mind off of it.

".. Feel broken down, my body aches. My heart bleeds from its past mistakes. I can't stop these tears, they fall like rain. Those words are spinning 'round in my brain, so scared and full of-" Lucy slapped her hand over her mouth, as she realized what she was singing. Tears fell down her cheeks, like rain just as the song said. She furiously wiped them away. Why was she crying? She should be mad, not sad! The whole point of singing was to get her mind off things! She had to focus on something else.. Like the monsters.

Lucy tuned her ears for any sound that might indicate a nearby monster. She listen for twigs snapping, leaves rustling, anything. Because for now all she was doing was walking around in a forest. She wanted to hurry up and beat a monster.. To prove Natsu wrong. That for one last time, she'd be able to take care of herself.

As if on cue, Lucy heard a large crash behind her. Looking up from the ground, she realized she was in a giant clearing. Lucy whirled around, almost expecting a giant monster to be looming over her. But she didn't see anything. Nothing but the empty forest which she had been passing through for the past thirty minutes. More noises followed the loud crash, heavy thuds that sounded vaguely like footsteps. Lucy could see the leaves fall off the trees, and could feel the ground beneath her shake, but there was nothing there! She suddenly felt very small, all alone in the big clearing in the even bigger forest. She felt so vulnerable,

So..

Weak.

Lucy shook her head in annoyance. Not that crap again! She took a couple steps closer to where the noise had come from, attempting to somewhat investigate.

'_It's probably just a boulder falling off a hill, and rolling into some trees..' _She thought to herself as she edged closer and closer to the forest line. The loud thuds and crashes continued, but they sounded as though they were right in front of her. Was there a mini-tornado or something coming towards her?! The trees were being shoved to the side, as if some invisible force was pushing them away. It was then that Lucy noticed.. Large footprints were showing up in the ground, getting closer and closer to where she was.

Everything in her told her to run, to run away from whatever was closing in on her. But she couldn't help but wonder.. What exactly was she running from? There was nothing in front of her that she could visibly see, only hints that something WAS coming. It interested her and scared her at the same time! She watched as the foot prints grew closer and closer, until they were only a couple feet in front of her. It was then that she decided it was time to get out of there. But she was too late.

Lucy felt a large object crash into the side of her stomach, throwing her into the trees next to her. She heard the crack of her ribs breaking, and the tree snap beneath her weight. She didn't even get time to scream before she was picked up again and thrown into the wall of a cliff. She fell to her knees, coughing up blood. Her body shuddered roughly in response to the cough and broken bones. Lucy looked around wildly for whatever hit her, but saw only more footprints and destroyed shrubbery. She grabbed onto a nearby branched and used it to pull her up. Lucy watched as the footprints once again came closer to her, but this time..

They stopped.

Just before they were about to reach her, the foot prints just stopped. As if.. It was flying. Lucy ducked, seeing the branches diagonal to her being knocked off their trunks. There was no doubt in her mind now that something was there. And it was invisible. Whatever it was narrowly missed her head. She ran in the opposite direction, taking cover behind a boulder. She reached down to her hip and pulled out her keys, fumbling around with the ring trying to find the right one.

"Open, gate of the Horseman! Sagittarius!" She called, the horse-man appearing in front of the boulder. Neither had time to do anything before they were swiped away by an invisible arm, getting thrown through the air once again. Lucy landed on her side, rolling into the clearing. She winced as the ground made contact with her side where the monster had hit her once again. Sagittarius wasn't far behind, but he somehow managed to land on his feet.

"Moshi-Moshi!" He said, bow already drawn. Lucy struggled to her feet, standing up beside him.

"Apparently this monster is invisible.. And fast. I think it can fly as well." Lucy explained. "I need you to hit him with one of your arrows, to try and mark where he is!" She ordered.

"As you wish, moshi-moshi!" He saluted. Sagittarius followed the footprints, and watched as they disappeared right in front of them. His arrow followed the path he suspected it to take, and shot. The arrow flew into the air, and for a moment, Lucy thought he missed. But instead it hit the monster with a crack, and flew right back towards them!

"Lucy-sama, watch ou-" Sagittarius was hit by his own arrow, and shimmered back into the spirit world. So the monster also seemed to have some sort of shell judging by the fact that it bounced back.

'_I need to think of a way to cover it in something so that I can see it..' _Lucy thought to herself. She looked around wildly for a place to duck for cover, but the clearing was empty. She had no choice but to run instead, going in random directions to confuse it as she thought of what to do to mark it. Then, she got an idea.

"Open, Gate of the Compass! Pyxis!" Lucy called. The small bird-like animal appeared next to Lucy. She pointed to the foot prints of the invisible monster.

"I need you to try and keep your needle pointing towards that monster!" Lucy ordered. Pyxis nodded, concentrating hard. The footsteps once again closed in on them. She knew what would happened next. Lucy picked up the spirit and ran, a large crash coming from behind them. She turned to see a giant crater where she once stood. That thing would have crushed her..

"Lucy-san, I've got it!" Pyxis cried from her arms. She glanced down at the compass, her eyes following where the needle pointed. It was right in front of them. Lucy stopped in mid run, turning around and sprinting the other way. Okay.. So she can tell where it is now. But how was she supposed to fight back? She'd have to pull out two spirits at once.

Suddenly, Lucy's legs began to wobble. Her power was giving out!

"No.." She hissed. "Not now!" She pulled out another key.

"Open, Gate of the Lion, Loke!" She called. Loke shimmered into the world, picking up Lucy and jumping out of the way just in time to dodge another hit from the monster.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" He said to her as they ran.

"First.. Put me down.." She muttered. Loke sighed, setting Lucy down next to him. They continued running, heading towards the forest.

"Invisible monster.." She panted. "Hard shell, fast, and can fly. You can use Pyxis to locate him." Lucy explained as best as she could. Loke looked at her, slightly concerned for his master, then nodded.

"Leave it to me!" He stopped running, taking Pyxis from her arms. She continued to make her way across the clearing. Loke watched as the footprints got closer, then stopped. Pyxis' needle rattled around, indicating it was above them.

"O Regulus, grant me your strength!" He chanted, his ring beginning to glow. Loke jumped up, punching the monster on the underside. He felt a satisfying crack, feeling whatever kind of shell it was beginning to give way. The monster wailed, letting out a high pitched screech. Loke covered his ears, and was hit by the beast's paw sending him flying towards where Lucy was running. He tightened his hold on Pyxis. Loke landed with a thud nearby Lucy. She looked over in terror, rushing over to where he was to make sure he was okay.

"I'm fine." He pushed her hand away, showing that he really was ok. He stood and wiped off the dirt from his face. "I think I've got it figured out!" He smirked. Lucy nodded, and was about to continue her run, but was thrown back by the monster again. She crashed into Loke, but they both continued flying until they were once again in the middle of the clearing. Lucy groaned, rolling over onto her back. Three large claw marks were gashed across her stomach, blood flowing freely. Lucy tried to stand up, but the world began to spin and she fell back down with a thud.

'_No.. I can't pass out now! I have.. To win!' _She thought to herself. _'To show Natsu.. I'm not weak!' _Despite her weakness from the lack of magic, and loss of blood, Lucy somehow managed to get to her feet. Loke continued to attack the beast, parts of the shell beginning to come loose and fly down to the ground. Blood began to cover the beast is various places, allowing Loke to find it easier. Lucy closed Pyxis' gate, silently thanking him.

"I've almost got it!" Loke called to her. He had located a spot where the shell was completely broken through, and aimed for that. Lighting up his ring, Loke chanted. "Regulus impact!" His fist began to glow, and he ran towards the monster who was temporarily blinded by the light. Loke charged towards the monster, his fist connected in its uncovered stomach. The monster screeched in agony once more, flying into the line of trees. Loke continued to run after it, not yet finished. "Regulus blast!" He yelled. A giant beam of light flew towards the beast, shattering its entire shell.

Lucy looked over as the dust cleared, and was amazed at what she saw.

The monster was actually a giant cat-like beast. The shell had apparently been what made it invisible. It lied in a crater, unmoving and unconscious. Its claws were long and mangled, and its fangs hung out of its mouth. The muscles literally bulged out of its skin, no wonder it was so fast. And its wings! They looked as though they belonged to a bat!

"Thank you.." She whispered to Loke. Even though he was far away, she knew he could hear her. She closed his gate, tucking the key back into her ring. Now she had to make it back to camp. But Lucy knew.. She knew she wouldn't be able to make it back. She tried to walk, but only stumbled and fell onto her stomach. She laid in the middle of the clearing, blood beginning to pool under her from the large claw marks that had ripped through her stomach. Lucy coughed once more, then instantly regretted it. Coughing only made the blood come out faster, and hurt the rib that had been continuously hit by the monster's paw. It was no use.. Between her loss of magic and blood, there was no way she could get back. But at least.. She had managed to beat the beast.

"Take that, Natsu.." She muttered bitterly before sleep finally overtook her.

* * *

"Did you really have to say she'd slow us down?" Gray mentioned to Natsu, who had been silent the whole time they were out there.

"How else was I supposed to make her stay?" Natsu replied gruffly. He wanted more than anything to apologize to her. He knew she'd be mad at him. He couldn't stand it when she was.. The silence overtook the four once again, Happy floating along sadly.

"You were pretty rough on those monsters." Erza commented, directing it to Natsu. He only shrugged, not really in the mood to talk. They had only found eight of nine before they decided to call it a day. He just wanted to wallow in his own guilt for the moment.

"Don't worry Natsu. When we beat up the Toku guy, you can tell Lucy that you didn't mean it." Happy said to his friend reassuringly. He rested a paw on his back, but still got no response.

After about another fifteen or so minutes, the group could see the vibrant supplies of their camp through the trees.

"It's seems as though no robbers attacked." Gray said, nudging Natsu. Natsu shrugged him off, quickening his pace towards the clearing where they had set up camp. He shoved the branches aside roughly.

"Lucy, we're ba-" His voice caught in his throat as he failed to spot Lucy anywhere.

"Lucy?" He called, making his way further in. He glanced inside of the tents, checking to see if she was inside. Nothing.

"You don't think she ran off to fight, do you?" Gray asked, looking around for her as well. Natsu clenched his fists.

"Why would she even consider it if she knew she was getting weaker?!" Natsu growled, his anger growing by the second. He shoved things out of the way, getting rougher and rougher as he looked for her around the camp. Erza put a hand on his shoulder. Natsu whirled around, nostrils flared.

"Natsu." She said. "We'll find her."

That was all he needed to hear. Natsu pushed her hand off his shoulder and turned back around. "I'm going to go look for her." He said to them. With that, Natsu rushed into the forest, following the faint scent that lead away from the camp.

He would find her. No matter what it took, he had to find her. How could she leave when she knew that she was this weak? She had half her power, and yet she went to go and fight a monster anyways? What was with her? Why did she have to be so headstrong and stubborn all the time? In fact, she was a lot like him in that way. That's when it hit Natsu.. She must've gone because of what he said.

'_You'd just slow us down anyway.' _

Why did he have to be so rash?! He knew he didn't mean what he said, but at the moment it just seemed to work and he blurted it out in the spur of the moment. Why couldn't he have just thought of something else to say? She had left to go and prove him wrong. He was sure of it. And if she died during the process, then..

It would be his fault.

Natsu's run turned into a sprint as he followed Lucy's scent deeper and deeper into the forest. He began to become more worried as the smell of blood was mixed into her scent. As he followed her path, he saw glimpses of broken trees and large footprints of what must've belonged to a monster. This one was much larger than the ones they had fought; and they were still pretty tough. He looked ahead and saw a large clearing, giant footprints and craters made by the creature. He saw blood in the grass, remnants of what looked like a giant shell, and across the clearing a giant animal lying against a cliff. His heart leapt to his throat as he took in its view. It was a giant cat-like monster, with the wings of a bat and claws that looked more like giant jagged knives. Its fangs hung out of its mouth, covered in dried saliva. But what surprised him the most.. Was that it was dead. Thankfully, Lucy had managed to defeat it apparently. But at what cost?

He followed Lucy's smell, which was becoming more and more mixed with the scent of blood. His heart raced, and his pace continued to increase. He made his way over to the giant monster. It towered over him, even though it was lying down. It was as big as Igneel. Lucy's scent was strong here, so obviously the monster had come in contact with her. He could also smell Loke on it. If that bastard had let Lucy die..

He cleared the thought out of his head. Natsu slowed to a walk as he made his way away from the monster, still following Lucy's scent. Why couldn't he see her? That was when he noticed the trail of blood that lead back into the forest. She had tried to get back. Natsu sprinted back into the forest, and followed the trail. Where was she?!

Lucy.

She was laying on her side, the ground below her stained with blood. This must've happened a while ago for the blood to be sucked into the ground like that. He hesitantly made his way up to her motionless body. He was too afraid to look.. To see if she was still alive.

"L-Luce?" He quietly called, dropping to his knees. Her back was to him. Gently, he rolled her over onto his lap. His heart stopped.

Along her stomach were three long gashes that looked like claw marks, obviously from the beast. They were deep; very deep. Her breath was raspy and came out in short gasps. Her body was shivering from the loss of blood. It had gone into shock mode. And the worst part was.. Natsu couldn't sense any magic power coming from her.

"_When a mage loses their magic power, their body dies. That is the most basic rule of a mage."_ That was what Natsu learned when he was a kid. And that is now what Natsu feared.

* * *

**Lucy, don't die T^T Hehe what am I saying? I know what's gonna happen.. x] CLIFFEH! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and again I will TRY to update this week and on Friday, but no promises.. I really wanna catch back up to my schedule. I would love some tips, so don't forget to comment and fave! Good night mina ^.^**


	11. Chapter Ten: From Love to Hate

**I am so sorry. I know I haven't updated in a while, and I really shouldn't be making excuses, but please hear me out! First of all, thank you for everyone who has stuck with this story and put up with my laziness. You have no idea how much it means to me :) Secondly, here is why I haven't updated: Okay so I was typing this chapter, right? And I close it out for a second to try and download this texture pack for minecraft. I can't figure out how, so I go back to my folder that holds all of my stories and planning and fanfiction. And the entire folder is gone. I have done a search on my computer, I've looked EVERYWHERE for it but the folder is just absolutely gone. All my past chapters for this story, the entire plan, and the original chapter 10, gone. Along with all of my other stories and plans. THEN I went on vacation, and I have spent the entire week rewriting the plan and the chapters. I'm so sorry guys. I don't know what happened, but I will be writing NON STOP. It's my goal to get this done before school starts, because then progress will get REALLY slow. So I'm going to try and update chapters more often. Again, thank you so much for staying with this story. Don't forget to give me your feedback and tips, I love to hear from all of you! Now enjoy the chapter :)**

* * *

**- Chapter 10 -**

**From Love to Hate**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

"C'mon, Luce.." Natsu muttered as he squeezed the scratched up hand of his partner. He had managed to get her back to camp, but not soon enough for his liking. Erza had wrapped her up with what bandages they had, but he knew they still weren't enough. They had to get her back to the guild, and quick. Natsu had been sitting in her tent for hours now, ever since he had found her he refused to leave her side. Not until she woke up. He had to make sure she was alright, because this whole thing was his fault. If only he hadn't said those words.. She never would have felt the need to prove him wrong.

Natsu heard the flap to the tent open, and turned his head to see Gray peak in with a melancholy Happy on his shoulder.

"Erza wants to know if you're coming out to eat." He asked, glancing over at the beaten blonde.

Natsu shook his head. They knew his answer. "Not until she wakes up." He reminded him once again.

Gray let out a heavy sigh. "You can't wait there forever. At least get something to eat." He said. "Besides," Gray muttered, "if she wakes up, it's not like she can run off or anything.."

Natsu glared at Gray for the side comment. He knew full well she couldn't run off, and didn't need to be reminded of it. Gray shrugged and backed out of the tent, Happy giving one last look at Lucy then following him as well.

Why couldn't they just see that he had to stay there? Didn't they know that this was his fault? Lucy, who was lying in bed passed out, with three deep claw marks on her stomach and broken ribs, was completely unaware right now of the pain he was feeling because of one sentence. He wanted more than anything to just apologize, to tell her that what he said wasn't at all true, so that things could go back to normal. But he knew that wouldn't happen without a fight. Things weren't that simple; he couldn't tell her the truth until they took down this Toku guy, for fear of her figuring out they knew about him. He glanced back at her, and was surprised to see that her eyes were open.

"L-Lucy?!" He gasped, jumping back a bit. "How long have you been awake?" Natsu asked, recovering from the scare she had given him.

Lucy tried to push herself up to a sitting position, but found she couldn't. She flopped back down onto her pillow, much to Natsu's dislike.

"Hey.. Don't push yourself, okay?" He muttered, looking away shyly.

Lucy gave him a harsh laugh. To think that she had actually fallen in love this man! What a joke. That love was no more than an innocent crush that is now no more. In fact, she was even beginning to reconsider their friendship. Everything now seemed like a lie; all those times he saved her, whenever he asked her to go on a job. He views her has some annoying luggage that he had to carry around. Every time she saw his face, all she could feel was angry bitterness. "What do you care?" She spat, turning her head over to look at him.

Natsu grit his teeth. So she _was_ angry at him.. He looked down, ashamed of himself. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes.

"Whatever." Lucy whispered. "I just want you to know one thing." She said.

"What is it?" Natsu asked, unsure he really wanted to hear her answer.

"I did it.." She whispered, her voice beginning to fade.

"Did what?!" He prodded her, trying to keep her awake. She had only just woken up, and now she was going to pass out again! "Tell me, Lucy!"

"Beat.. The monster.." Her breathing became labored and came out in short rasps, but she continued to talk. She had to say it. "I'm not.. Worthless." She breathed, finally allowing sleep to takeover. Lucy's eyes fluttered shut. Natsu looked at her, speechless. He wanted to say and do so much, but nothing came out. What could he possibly say back to a sentence like that? He had to face the facts; he couldn't fix this until he destroyed Toku. And lately, he's been wanting to do that more and more.

Natsu pushed off the ground and climbed out of the tent. Lucy had woken up, so he figured he could get his food. Not that he had much of an appetite anyway. He pulled open the flap quietly, gaining the attention of his three teammates.

"Oh, Natsu!" Erza said, surprised to see the dragon slayer. After all, he'd been in the tent for hours.

"Hey." He muttered, walking over to sit next to Happy. His blue friend looked up at him, concerned for his partner's wellbeing; physically, and mentally. Natsu sat down and picked up a fish from the fire, and began to nibble on it. He wasn't all that hungry after his little chat with Lucy.

Soon, the only sounds were the crackling fire, and the munching on fish. You could literally feel the awkwardness floating throughout the air, and Gray decided to end it.

"So, Erza and I have decided we should all leave tonight." Gray piped up from his fish, earning a look of anger and confusion from Natsu.

"What?!" He sputtered, instantly putting his fish down. Gray shrugged.

"I mean, the sooner we get to the guild the better for all of us." He reasoned. Erza nodded in agreement.

"We need to get Lucy some better health care, and we also are almost out of supplies. It would be difficult to sustain ourselves for much longer." The red headed mage explained. Natsu looked at the two, shocked that they would even suggest the idea.

"What, are you crazy?! Have you not SEEN what Lucy looks like? There's no way she could make a journey back to the guild without further injuring herself!" Natsu yelled, standing up from his seat on the log.

Gray stood up as well. "What else can we do?! If we wait any longer, we'll run out of food!" He yelled back.

"That doesn't matter! We can go at least a day without food! Lucy's safety is first priority!" Natsu screamed, then his voice softened to a bitter mutter. "Or have you forgotten that?"

"Listen, I want her to get better just as much as you do! But we need to get to the guild as soon as possible!" Gray replied, motioning over to Lucy's tent.

"I know!" Natsu shrieked, grabbing his head. There was just too much at stake here; between her loss of power and injuries, she needed help. But there's no telling what could happen on their way back. She could fall and reopen a wound, or another monster could attack and end up hurting her. If she stayed another night, she might end up developing an infection from her wounds. It was a lose-lose situation!

"Don't argue over me. I'm fine."

Natsu and Gray turned to look at the owner of the voice, the tired looking blonde who stood in front of her tent. It seemed as though it was taking every ounce of her energy to just stand.

"L-Lucy?!" Natsu sputtered, completely confused as to why someone as injured as her was standing.

"I told you I'm fine, and I am." She said, placing her hands on her hips. "We can head out tonight just as Gray and Erza suggested. That's that." Lucy said with satisfaction in her voice. She turned around and knelt down, pulling her bag out of her tent.

The four just stood there, mouths open and eyes wide.

"What?" Was all Natsu could manage to get out.

"I didn't stutter." Lucy answered, not even bothering to turn around and look at him. She threw her bag over her shoulder and began to take down her tent, pulling peg by peg out of the ground.

Natsu looked at her for a second with utter shock, before finally shaking it off and walking over to go and talk to her. He fell to his knees beside her, and put his hand on her shoulder. Lucy shrugged him off roughly.

"Lucy, have you even thought about this?" He asked worriedly.

"Of course. And like Gray said, it's better for all of us that we head out as soon as possible." She explained, her eyes still not looking at his. They stayed focused on taking down the tent, her face hidden behind her hair.

"But Luce.."

"I told you I'm fine."

"You're not fine! Look at you!"

"Just because I look bad doesn't mean I feel that way!"

"How could you-"

"Natsu." Lucy said, her hands stopping and folding into her lap. "Just leave me alone."

Natsu froze. Her voice.. It wasn't full of the anger that had been there ever since she woke. This time.. It was sadness. That's when he noticed the smell of salt coming from her. Was she.. Crying?

* * *

**Lucy's POV**

Why was she crying? Just a minute ago, she'd been furious at Natsu, for pretending like he actually cared, and playing with her feelings. And after a while, she realized how much that this was actually hurting her. The pain of losing someone you cared about was hard, and only now was it really beginning to take a toll on her. She had to stop. The whole point of going through this was to appear strong, and it wasn't doing her any good by crying in front of him.

Lucy heard Natsu stand up beside her, and walk away. She sniffed quietly, wiping away her tears, and continued to take down her tent and pack up her few supplies for their trip. She winced in pain, each move causing a different part of her body to scream in protest. But she had to push through it. Lucy wanted her last days as a wizard to be ones where she appeared strong, not fragile. She threw all of her things into her bag and tossed it over her shoulder, picking up the wrapped tent as she stood. Lucy turned around to see the worried faces of her teammates, their bags also over their shoulders and ready to go.

She looked away, and began to walk to the edge of the camp. "I'm ready." She said quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat. Gray nodded and froze the fire, following suit. Natsu was the first by Lucy's side, silent, but still there. She made sure not to let him see her face for fear he could tell she had been crying. Gray and Erza lead the way, Happy riding on Natsu's head. Lucy glanced back at the empty camp until it was shrouded in the brush. She turned back around and shifted her bag, ready to get this walk over with.

* * *

It was terribly silent the whole way onto the path. The awkwardness was literally dripping from the air. Each step with her foot sent a jolt of pain through Lucy's sides, and the bag banging around on her back wasn't helping either. Lucy held her breath, for fear that if she didn't, then something unwanted might come out. Finally, she began to see a little bit of the moons light up ahead. They were getting closer to the path! She sighed with relief. At least now she knew how much longer they had. The path took about an hour and a half to get back to the guild. All she had to do was deal with the pain for another ninety minutes, and she'd be home free. But the more and more she thought about it, the more she realized how painful this trip had already become. She could feel the skin tugging around her claw marks, the rub of the fabric against it making the area raw. Her ribs ached every time she took a step, and she was beginning to fear that they might puncture a lung. The pain got worse and worse every second, how much longer could she take this?

Lucy held her breath, scared she might let out a whimper of pain if she wasn't careful enough. She was surprised at how silent the group was, compared to their trip on the way here. It was her fault they were like this. The tension in the air was obvious, and so was the cause of it. She was also surprised at how Natsu had remained quiet as well. She had expected him to protest at least once or twice on the trip, but he hadn't. In fact, in the back of her mind, Lucy was quite disappointed. But she couldn't exactly figure out why. Why would she want fake sympathy from a man who now meant nothing to her?

Lucy continued walking, trying hard to ignore her pain and angry thoughts. All she could focus on was that she was becoming increasingly weak; to the point where she found it incredibly difficult to even stand straight.

"Luce, you okay?" Natsu piped up from behind her, beginning to notice her strange walking pattern.

"I'm.. Fine.." She muttered, grabbing her head to try and get her bearings back. Was night coming quicker? Because it was getting awfully dark. Lucy stopped walking and tried to steady herself, but soon found that she was no longer on her feet. She had fallen to the ground, and was being consumed by darkness. Gray and Erza looked over, alarmed by the sudden thud. Happy leapt off Natsu's head and flew down by her side, screaming her name.

'_No.. I can't pass out now! I was so close!' _She hissed to herself. But it was too late. She was too far gone, and all she could feel was something warm now holding her up. Despite her condition, she was sure what it was.

"N-Natsu.." She whispered, falling to sleep once again.

* * *

"_You'd only slow us down." _

_Lucy looked back at the pink haired mage with shock, her heart catching in her chest. Did he just.. The group of four turned around and left the camp site, her world melting all around her._ _The trees, ground, everything faded into the darkness that was now consuming her. Over and over, she heard those words._

"_You'd only slow us down."_

_She couldn't get it out of her head! Lucy fell to her knees, grabbing her head and shaking it around desperately trying to rid the sentence from her mind. Tears fell from her eyes, running down her cheeks. What did he mean? Was he calling her weak? The man that she loved.. No.. HAD loved.._

"_You'd only slow them down."_

_Lucy looked up, her tears falling to the ground and splashing below in the darkness. Before her stood a young man with a dark mind. Toku._

"_He doesn't know what he's talking about!" Lucy cried angrily, slamming her fists down and shaking her head. _

"_Oh?" Toku said, walking towards her. "And what are you going to do about it?" He bent over, lifting up her chin to look at him with his hand. He gave her a sly smirk. "Lucy Heartfilia, why ARE you so weak?" He asked._

_Like he didn't know! She'd had enough of this man! Couldn't he just leave her alone? She wasn't weak! And no one could tell her otherwise. The reason she appeared this way, the cause of all of her problems, it was.. It was because.._

"_Because of YOU! You, Toku, are stealing my power! And with it, my LIFE!" Lucy screamed. She stood up furiously, looking him dead in the eye. But Toku only laughed._

"_What's so funny?!" She growled. But the evil mage only pointed. Lucy followed his finger, looking directly behind her._

_It was Natsu._

"_What?" The pink-haired mage muttered, frozen in his position._

_Lucy looked at him, wide-eyed with terror. He had heard her.. He knew! It was all over. _

"_Wait, Natsu! Toku!" Lucy cried, taking a step towards Natsu then turning back around to look at Toku. Fear took over her eyes as she realized what the consequence would be._

"_Please, no!" She whispered._

"_Goodbye!" Toku waved. His hands began to glow with a dark green evil light. On cue, Natsu began to scream in agony as he fell to his knees from the poison. _

"_I-It's all YOUR fault!" The pink haired mage yelled, pointing a crooked finger at the blonde. She looked at him in absolute horror. _

"_It's your fault that we're all going to DIE!" Natsu fell to the ground, his limbs sprawling out beneath him. It was her! She was the reason they were all going to die! More and more of her friends appeared before her, Levy, Wendy, Mira, Erza, Gray, everyone.. And they were all dying. Because of her. She couldn't take this pain.. She couldn't live with the burden of killing all who were ever close to her.. Especially, the one she had loved._

"_No.."_

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed. Her heart was racing in her chest, and her body shaking with fear. It was just a dream. But.. It felt worse than a dream. It felt like real life.. And why had she called Natsu's name? It was then that she realized where she was.

She was on Natsu's back.

Her head had been resting on his shoulder blades, her arms hanging loose by her sides. She felt a blush quickly rise to her face, but she was too weak to even do anything about it. In fact, she found it quite difficult to even speak. Her ribs ached and her wounds felt like they were about to reopen. She looked down to see the worried face of the Dragon Slayer himself.

"Yeah?" He answered, slightly confused.

Lucy pulled her head up and saw also that Gray and Erza had stopped walking, looking over to see what was going on. Happy was floating beside the two, his face frozen in terror from her outburst.

"Lucy.." He whimpered, putting a paw on her shoulder.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to get some moisture back into her mouth. She glanced at all the worried, scared faces looking at her, wanting to answer.. To tell them everything, to just break down into sobs right then and there.

"I-I.."

But she couldn't.

"It was a dream." She finally settled on. It came out as nothing more than a whisper, but she knew they could hear it. Gray and Erza let out a sigh of relief, turning back around to continue their trek across the path. Happy flew behind them resting on Gray's shoulder. But Natsu, he didn't move. His face still had that worried look, but this time, a bit more of determination.

"Luce." He said, gaining her attention. Lucy reluctantly looked back up to meet his eyes. She was still on his back. What could he possibly say? She wanted to just curl up in a ball and go hide in a corner. Away from the world, from Natsu. But she listened.

"No matter what, we'll always have your back." With that said, Natsu gave her his infamous smirk and turned back around to join the others.

She covered her hand with her mouth, a small tear rolling down her cheek. His voice sounded like he cared, and her heart believed that he did, but her head was smarter than to give in to the hope that anyone could ever be there for her again. Especially him.

* * *

**Poor Lucy :( She's just giving up hope, isn't she? Like I said above, I'll be posting chapters more often now and try to finish it by the 26th of August. There will be a total of 20 chapters, so after this, 9 more! Remember to comment any tips or feedback because I love to hear from you guys. Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter Eleven: I'm Sorry

**I am a failure of a writer. I'm sorry. That's all.**

* * *

**- Chapter 11 -**

**I'm Sorry**

**By LoreliMae**

* * *

"N-Natsu?!"

The pink-haired mage looked up, meeting the terrified face of none other than the bookworm of the guild herself.

"Levy?" He replied, slightly confused at her tone. Then, he remembered. He had her best friend passed out on his back.

"O-Oh.. Yeah." He stuttered, slowly pulling her off his back so that he was holding her bridal style. "She kind of.. Got hurt." Natsu muttered, not really wanting to go back into that story. Levy gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, tears brimming at the edge of her eyes.

"Lu-chan!" She cried. Levy carefully rested a hand on her shoulder, examining her wounds. Mira came up behind her, a worried look in her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked. The white-haired barmaid was followed by the rest of the guild, forming a small circle around Lucy and Natsu. Fear and confusion were in their eyes.

Erza stepped forward and shook her head, dismissing the question. She knew it was a tender subject for Natsu, and didn't want things any worse than they had already gotten. Happy glanced at Lucy as well from Gray's shoulder worriedly, still not sure if things were going to work out.

"Give her some space." Natsu commanded. "She's gonna be okay." The group immediately split, making a small pathway for the two towards the guild's infirmary.

"Is Wendy back from her job?" Erza asked, walking over to Mira. She shook her head in response.

"She shouldn't be back until later today. I should be able to take care of her though." Mira offered.

"That would be great." The redheaded mage nodded. Mira turned and followed behind Natsu into the infirmary, shutting the door behind them. Outside, the guild stood quietly, not really knowing what to do next. All they could do was hope for the best.

* * *

"I managed to close up the wounds and stop the bleeding.. But the bones will have to heal themselves. That's all I can do. I'm sorry." Wendy whispered, lowering her hands from Lucy's stomach. She'd been terrified ever since she had returned to the guild, immediately being rushed to the side of an injured friend. She felt horrible for not going on the job with the others, feeling responsible for the weak blonde in front of her.

Natsu put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, you've done a lot. Don't feel bad." He smirked, earning a small smile back from the little girl. She stood up and bowed, walking to the door.

"She should wake up soon, so make sure you're there for her." Wendy said before quietly closing the door behind her. Natsu nodded in response, turning around in his chair so he could watch over her while she slept.

What was happening to him? Things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of days. His world was falling down around him, and all this drama was giving him a headache. Natsu'd had enough of it. The secrecy, the insults, all he wanted was to just march up to this Toku guy and give him a nice Fire Dragon's Iron Fist to the face! Then, everything would be okay. Lucy would get her powers back, the entire guild would be safe, and she wouldn't have to be mad at him anymore! In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he wondered why he wasn't doing that right then and there!

Then, he remembered. Because of her.

He gazed over her pale face. She was the cause of all his worry, his heartache. All because she had just wanted to save them. And what had he done in return? He'd broken her heart by telling her something that was nowhere near the truth! If there was anything he wanted to stay at that moment, it would be to apologize. And he was about to get that chance.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered, her eyes fluttering open. She tried to sit up, but Natsu stopped her.

"Don't strain yourself." He muttered, carefully laying her back down to the bed.

Lucy pouted. "I feel much better though." She protested. Natsu shook his head, much to her annoyance. She sighed and turned her head back over so she didn't have to look at him, too afraid to meet his eyes.

They sat there, him in his chair, and her lying in the bed facing the other way. The silence was heavy in the room and weighed down on the two. Both had so much on their minds.. So much that they wanted to say, and it was high time someone did!

"Liste-"

"Nats-"

Both started to speak at once, and Lucy turned over giving him a slight smile. But it quickly disappeared as she remembered that she was mad.

"You go." The blonde allowed, gesturing with her hand for him to speak. Natsu nodded in response.

"I wanted to.. Apologize." He muttered, looking away. Natsu felt his cheeks begin to heat up. His heart began to flutter nervously. Was it Lucy making him feel this way?

Lucy looked at him slightly shocked, not really knowing what to say. "I.." She started, regaining her words, "I was going to say the same thing."

"Really?" Natsu exclaimed, turning his head back around to see her looking down at her lap, studying her hands. Lucy nodded.

"I.. Overreacted. I realize now that I AM weak.. That I hold you guys back. I always have. So I've decided I should leave the team." She explained, finding it difficult to get the words out.

Natsu froze. "Leave.. The team?" Those last few words.. They hit him like a wrecking ball. She.. Lucy..

"No."

Lucy looked up to meet his onyx eyes, ablaze with determination.

"Wha-"

"No!" He repeated, this time a bit more forceful. "There is no way you're leaving!" Natsu yelled, standing up from his chair and slamming his hands down on her bed.

"Natsu, i-it's okay.." She whispered. "You don't have to feel sorry for me any-"

"Sorry?" He repeated, his eyes softening. "Luce.. Is that how you thought I felt? Sorry for you?" He looked offended, saddened even that she would even think such a thing.

"Don't you?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy.. I lied." He replied, narrowing his eyes. She had to understand.. She had to understand that he didn't feel that way about her.

"You lied.. About me slowing you down?" She whispered, her eyes widening. He had lied? But..

"But why?" Lucy cried, a small tear falling down her cheek. All that pain.. All the betrayal she felt, all the anger. It was for nothing.

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt." He finally admitted.

"I've noticed that something's wrong, Luce. And I know you're not going to tell me. So the only thing I can do for you is to keep you safe.. I didn't want you to go with us. I was trying to come up with a good reason, but you kept pressuring me.. And I just.. Blurted it out. I didn't mean it." Natsu confessed, slowly sitting back down in his chair.

He.. Lied. He didn't think she slowed them down. All those times when he saved her, risked his life for her, it wasn't because he felt sorry for her. It wasn't because she was a burden he had to carry. It was because he truly cared about her. She suddenly felt bad for all of her thoughts, for her actions. She'd been making a fool of herself this whole time. She felt guilty for making him go through this pain. She treated him badly when all she should really be doing is thanking him. Without even realizing it, this pink-haired idiot had just saved her once again. Even while she was trying to save him.

Lucy was interrupted from her thoughts, the feeling of Natsu's hand on top of hers. She look up, meeting his eyes with her teary ones.

"I should be the one apologizing." She said, wiping her eyes with her other hand.

Natsu shook his head. "No. It's my fault for being too rash."

"None of this is your fault Natsu." Lucy reassured him. "There are things that I can't tell you now, but you'll see soon enough." She said, squeezing his hand.

"Me too." Natsu whispered. His heart felt heavy, and all he wanted to do was just pull her into a hug and tell her it was okay. He couldn't explain why, but he could feel her heart ache in his own. The need to be held. And reassured. Even the strongest person needed strength from another every now and then. So, being the blunt pyromaniac he was, that's exactly what he did.

Natsu leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head into his shoulder. Lucy felt her heart flutter as his strong arms pulled her in, her eyes opening wide.

"N-Natsu?" She gasped.

He pulled her in tighter. "It's okay. Whatever it is, you're gonna be okay." Natsu whispered, reassuring her.

He was.. Comforting her? Of all the things she'd seen this random idiot do, this certainly was not one of them. Neither, was it one she had expected him to do. Especially to her. As much as she hated to admit it, the hug.. Was nice. She could feel the weight on her heart be lifted, even if it was just a little. And for the first time in days, she smiled. For the first time since her encounter with Toku, she actually felt a ping of hope. That Natsu would save her. She put her other arm around his back and closed her eyes taking in the hug gratefully.

"Thank you." She whispered, another small tear slipping down her cheek. This man was amazing. He gave her hope in a hopeless world. And he saved her when she thought she couldn't be saved. Her little 'Thank you' was nowhere near enough payment for all that he's done for her. She laid there, his arms wrapped around her. At that moment, there was no other place she'd rather be. She felt so secure there.. So safe. So oblivious to the outside world..

_SMASH._

Natsu and Lucy immediately sat up, looking over to where the sound of shattering glass came from. There in the doorway stood Mirajane, a white plate shattered below her on the ground. Her hands covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide.

Lucy could feel her face literally set on fire as she realized what Mira had seen. From her point of view, let's just say that it looked a LOT different than from what was actually going on. "M-Mira!" Lucy gasped. "It's not what it looks like!"

But it was too late. Mira was already too far gone.

"Oh. My. Goodness." She whispered, slowly lowering her hands. "It finally HAPPENED!" She threw down the rest of the plates she was holding, adding to the pile of broken glass on the floor, and ran out into the main room of the guild.

"EVERYONE!" Mira shouted, climbing up on top of a nearby table. Each of the guild members looked up in surprise.

"NATSU AND LUCY ARE FINALLY TOGETHER!" She screamed, the echoes bouncing off the walls of the silent guild. For a second, everyone froze. And then, all that could be heard across Fiore were screams of joy.

Lucy sat in the infirmary, Natsu on the chair, both looking out of the doorway at the rioting guild.

"What does she mean?" Natsu asked, turning around to look at Lucy. "Oi, Luce! You there?" He asked, waving his hand in front of her face. But Lucy was just too shocked to even acknowledge what was going on. All that she could think of was how many ways could she kill a certain barmaid.

* * *

"You SURE nothing's going on between you two?" Levy asked for the millionth time.

Natsu nodded. "Positive. Lucy's not even in the guild, so how could something even happen between us?" He shrugged. Levy face-palmed, finally giving up on the pink-haired mage. It was too late for him.

"Oi! Natsu! Get over here!" Gray called from across the room.

Natsu turned his head to see Erza and Gray waiting in front of the door to the Master's office. What did they need? "Yeah, yeah I'm coming." He replied, walking away from the steaming Levy and over to his teammates.

"H-h-hello, N-n-natsu.." Erza sputtered nervously. "I h-heard ab-bout you a-a-and.. A-a-and.." But she couldn't even finish her sentence. Gray rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me translate into Natsu language." He sighed. Erza nodded, sitting back down on the bench they'd been waiting at.

"Erza says she heard about how you and Lucy mated." Gray explained bluntly.

Natsu could feel the fire from inside him make its way to his cheeks.

"Mated?!" He stuttered, taking a step back from the two. Gray looked at him seriously, as if he was actually expecting some sort of reply.

"That IS what you dragons do, right?" Gray asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. Which happened to be the only thing left on him about now. "Well?'

"Well what?!" Natsu shrieked, still trying to wrap his head around the idea of what Gray had just said. Him.. And Lucy.. Mating?! He pulled at his hair, trying to keep himself from going crazy at the idea. So many emotions came with it; ones that he couldn't explain. And didn't want to.

"Did you?" Gray prodded.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Natsu screamed, his face red from embarrassment. Is that what everyone had been thinking about? That he and Lucy.. The pink-haired mage shivered from the mere thought of it. How could his guild mates have such dirty thoughts? And why was he getting so upset over it?

Gray stared back at him in astonishment. "Geez.. You don't have to yell." He muttered, putting his hands up in defense. "Erza said it, not me."

But Natsu still wasn't pleased. What was wrong with them! Lucy and he were just friends, nowhere near mates! In the dragon world, having a mate meant the same as marriage. It was a lifelong commitment, and once you've found one, there was no going back. When Igneel had explained it to him as a kid, he hadn't really given it much thought. He'd never really been one to think about those kind of things. And now was no exception.

"Just forget about it.." He said, waving his hand. It was best to never speak of the subject. Instead, he distracted Gray and himself. "Now what did you guys need?" Natsu asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"We needed you to come with us to tell the master about Lucy." The red-head explained, who had apparently recovered from her mini heart attack caused by Mira's outburst.

"That's right.." Natsu muttered, remembering the decision they had made back at the campsite.

Gray stepped forward and knocked on the Master's door. They heard the sound of shuffling papers, then a gruff 'Come in'. The three mages piled into the tiny office, taking their places in front of the old man's desk.

"What do you brats want?" Makarov asked, not even bothering to look up from the paperwork he was doing.

Gray gave a nod with his head to Natsu, silently telling him to start. But Erza beat him to it.

"We're here to talk about Lucy." She started, gaining the Master's attention. He looked up from his papers, staring the three in the eye. He too had noticed something was off with their Celestial Mage.

"What about her?"

There was no easy way to explain, so Natsu just decided to go ahead and lay it all out right there. "Gramps, there's this man.. Toku. He's stealing Lucy's magic." He answered bluntly.

"What do you mean, 'stealing'?" Makarov asked, leaning forwards in his seat.

"Our theory is that for some reason, Lucy is being blackmailed into giving this man her power. And he's planning on harnessing it for himself." Erza explained.

"Blackmailed?" The Master exclaimed, his eyes widening. "With what?"

"Us." Natsu spat, anger dripping from his voice. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to prevent himself from punching a wall or two to let go of his anger.

"We think that he threatened to hurt us if she didn't give him her magic." Gray finished, trying to share as much detail as they could muster.

"And the worst part is.." Natsu shuddered. He didn't want to even talk about this part. But he had to. "I don't think she realizes that taking all of her power will kill her." He explained. He could feel the drive to go and stop Toku boil inside of him. But he couldn't. They needed to tell the Master.

Makarov nodded, stroking his mustache in thought. "Let me do some research on this.."

"Toku." Gray reminded him.

"Yes.. Toku." He muttered. That name sounded vaguely familiar.. But he couldn't seem to quite remember who it was. "Let me do some research on him, and I'll call you back. Until then, I want you all to keep a watchful eye on Lucy. Don't interfere though; you mustn't be by her side all the time. Then Toku will begin to suspect something is up." The Master ordered the three. "I'm going to need one of you to watch her tonight, and see if you can get any more information."

"I'll do it." Natsu volunteered. He had done so without even thinking about it. He was just so eager to stop Toku.. He wanted to do everything in his power to help out.

"Are you sure you can do it without interfering?" Erza asked, unsure that Natsu could control his anger. She feared he might lash out, endangering Lucy and the guild.

Natsu looked down. That was right.. He couldn't let Toku see him. He'd have to sit back quietly and watch as Lucy suffered. Could he really do that? Even if it meant he was saving her? Could he just stay back and hide while his best friend was losing her very life? "I'm sure." Natsu confirmed. He would have to. He didn't want to trust this to anyone else other than himself. He would do this. No matter how much it hurt him or her. He had to.

"Alright then. Tonight, you will gather information on Toku if he shows up at Lucy's. I'll be looking for more information in the Fiore records. Erza, Gray?" Makarov said, turning to the other two mages.

"I want you two to go with Levy and explain to her what's going on. Ask her to aid in our research." He ordered. Gray and Erza nodded, exiting the room immediately to go find Levy. Natsu was left standing there, in front of the master.

"Natsu?" He said, looking the pink-haired dragon slayer dead in the eyes. He could see, deep inside, the worry for his teammate eating him alive.

"Yeah Gramps?" He replied.

"She'll be fine. Lucy is strong. Don't worry." He reassured him, giving Natsu a confident smile and thumbs up. That was what he needed to hear. That she'd be okay. Because right now, there was no telling what unspeakable horrors were to befall upon them all.

* * *

**I will be faster. I SWEAR!**


End file.
